A Matter of Trust
by ReeseLovesCarter
Summary: Reese meets a mysterious woman while protecting his latest Person of Interest. Will she be the one to break down the wall he has built around himself?  Rating for language and adult situations and then Lemons in later chapters will be rated M  possibly .
1. Prologue

A Matter of Trust

Prologue

Author's Note: My story begins after episode 8 (Foe) but before episode 9 (Get Carter). I will assume that you already know the characters or at least have a general idea of the **Person of Interest **story line. I'm creating my own little AU story involving Reese, Finch, Carter, Fusco and my own OC. I'll call the entire story AU but I'm going to try to tie in as much of the actual episodes into my story as possible. Mature rating for language and then lemons in later chapters. Be gentle…this is my first fic ;-)

Pairings: Reese/OC…others possible as well.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!

The Blonde woman rushed along the crowded New York sidewalk looking over her shoulder every few feet. John Reese watched the woman through his M82A1's scope, his finger at the ready on the trigger. He was just as comfortable tracking his target from the fifth story window of the building he was currently in as he would be following her on foot. Reese had been watching over and studying the woman, Janet Crawford, for three days now ever since Finch had given him her information. They had come to find out through Finch's research and Reese's surveillance that Janet was being stalked by her abusive ex-husband who had every intention of killing her.

Reese could tell that Janet was becoming more frightened. Her pace had increased and she was looking behind her more often than where she was going. She bumped into a red-headed woman walking the opposite way. To anyone else it would have looked like a complete accident but Reese noticed the redhead slipping something into Janet's purse.

Reese touched his earpiece and spoke quietly. "Finch, I think we might have a problem."

"What is it Mr. Reese? Is Ms. Cochran alright?"

"I'm not sure. A woman just slipped something into Janet's purse. Bumped into her, made it look like an accident. Can you pull up the footage and keep her in sight?"

"I'm pulling it up now." Finch responded.

Reese had a split second to decide whether to get down to Janet or remain in his position and be ready to fire. What happened next made his decision for him.

The redhead watched Janet continue to rush down the sidewalk for just a moment before she continued on her original path. Reese watched as the woman slid her hand under her leather jacket to the small of her back; something Reese himself had done countless times before. He watched her slide something slowly forward yet still kept it hidden under her jacket. Instinctively he knew it was a firearm.

"Mr. Reese, I have the woman on screen now. I'm trying to find out who she is but the facial recognition scans are coming back with nothing. I'll keep trying. "

The woman altered her course slightly so that she was walking straight into the path of a very large man. The man, Reese knew, was Janet's ex-husband Ron Cochran who had been following Janet for almost five blocks.

"Mr. Reese, are you seeing this?"

"Yeah Finch, I've got eyes on her." He watched with morbid curiosity as the redhead purposefully walked straight into Ron.

Ron immediately started yelling at the woman. Reese couldn't hear what they were saying but he could tell that Ron was extremely agitated and Reese was now worried for the woman's safety.

Compared to Ron's height of 6'3, the woman looked to be about 5'7. He knew not to underestimate an opponent strictly because of their size but this would definitely not be a fair fight. Ron was now trying to force the woman out of his way but she was having none of that. She used her shoulder to shove Ron sideways into the alley they were right in front of. Reese couldn't see their exchange clearly now but he could tell that Ron now had the woman pinned up against the wall on the far side of one of the large dumpsters lining the alley.

"Mr. Reese…" Finch started.

"I'm on my way down there now."

Reese quickly rose and raced down the stairs to the side exit of the building. He dropped the gun into a dumpster and ran up to the sidewalk directly across the street from the alley where he had watched the woman push Ron. He hurried across the street to the alley's entrance.

The alley appeared empty but Reese heard muffled voices further back. He moved slowly forward, his eyes scanning everywhere for objects that could be used as weapons, possible escape routes, everything that he had been trained to look for in unknown situations and in unfamiliar territory such as this. A flash of movement caught his eye over the top of a dumpster further down the alley. He pulled his Glock from the small of his back and advanced toward the dumpster.

Reese reached the dumpster and crouched on the opposite side of where Ron had the woman pinned.

"Who the hell do you think you are lady?" Ron hissed.

"I'm the person who's going to make sure your ex-wife never has to look over her shoulder in fear for her life again." The woman confidently returned.

Reese's brows rose; intrigued at the woman's brass.

"Bitch, you got no idea who you're dealing with."

"Actually, I do Ron…" She drew out his name.

Reese heard Ron's quick intake of breath.

"The fuck? Wha…what the hell did I do to you lady and how do you know my name? I got no beef with you but I am in a hurry. We're gonna go our separate ways now, you got that?"

The woman chucked darkly.

"You're right Ron. You have no beef with me but I do have a beef with you because you see, you're an asshole, an asshole and a wife beater to boot. But that's not enough for you. You've got to be a murderer too."

Reese heard shuffling and he slowly moved towards the back of the dumpster. He was able to see clearly through the space between the alley wall and the back of the dumpster. The woman had her gun pushed into Ron's crotch. Ron's hands were raised but the woman had her left arm around Ron's waist holding him so that he couldn't back away. She pulled at Ron's back and flipped them around so that she now had his back against the wall.

"Murderer? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really, Ron? So, you had no intention of killing Janet with the knife in your left jacket pocket?"

She roughly pulled back Ron's jacket and pulled the knife from exactly where she had said it was. She held it up to Ron's face. His eyes glued to the knife. Reese watched Ron's jaw muscle twitch in anger. The corner of the woman's mouth pulled up in a condescending smirk. She tossed the knife into the dumpster so that there was no chance that Ron could take it back from her before she was finished with him. Then she reached into her own jacket pocket and pulled out a syringe with clear liquid already in the chamber. Ron's eyes watched the woman's actions and his eyes widened when she pulled out the syringe.

"You know what this is Ron?" She held the syringe up in front of his face.

He swallowed audibly. "No, should I?"

"Not really…big name, too many letters for your Neanderthal brain." Ron's lip curled up in a sneer that bared his tar-yellowed teeth.

"Oh, I'm sorry did I hurt your feelings?" She said in a mocking voice. "I don't typically make it a practice to toy with my prey, but with you I just can't seem to help myself."

"Fucking cow, I'm going to enjoy myself while I'm choking the life out of that pretty little neck of yours." He growled.

"Aww, you think my neck's pretty? How sweet, but that won't save you today you disgusting prick."

Before Ron could blink she rammed the syringe between his legs and depressed the plunger. The drug worked quickly and Ron was slumped against the alley wall within seconds. She knew that an M.E. wouldn't examine Ron's genitals during a routine autopsy for a heart attack victim.

"Good riddance asshole." She mumbled as she replaced her gun, pocketed the syringe and walked towards the entrance of the alley.

"Well now, that was…interesting." Finch whispered.

Reese quietly stood as he watched her reach the end of the alley and turn left back onto the sidewalk.

"Yes, quite." Reese answered.

He quickly followed after her.

"Have you found anything on her yet Finch?"

"No not yet. I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"Just keep her in sight Finch."

"Hmm, that shouldn't be too difficult."

"Meaning?"

"Oh nothing…it's just that I've had _less_ pleasing things to track."

Reese's brow cocked as he laughed quietly under his breath.

The woman glanced behind her quickly and Reese could almost swear she met his eyes before she turned back around. Her pace didn't change but he saw her hand slip back and brush the back of her jacket for just a moment.

"Hey Finch, I'm going to back off a bit. I think she may have noticed me."

"Well now Mr. Reese that would be a first."

Reese smirked at Finch's comment. He watched the woman's long red curls bounce as she moved through the crowd. And then she was gone. He stopped and scanned the crowd where she had been seconds ago.

"Finch, where did she go? I lost her."

He started moving forward again. He glanced down an alley as he was passing it and thought he saw a flash of red. Quickly he pivoted and was for the second time today walking down a narrow alley.

"Finch? Are you there?"

"Ye…Yes. Yes, I'm here."

"What's wrong Finch?"

"The woman you're following…"Finch broke off again.

"Harold?"

Reese saw the flash of red again a second before it had him pushed against the wall. The only reason he was there and she wasn't writhing on the ground with a bullet wound in some choice part of her body was because he had seen it coming. The Glock 17 that had been pressed into Ron Cochran earlier was now pressed into him.

"Her name is Ella Morgan and you're not going to believe this…but her number just came up."

Reese glanced down at the gun then back to the blue eyes staring up at him and smiled.

"Hello Ella."


	2. Chapter 1

**A Matter of Trust**

**Chapter 1**

**Chapter 1 Summary:** Picks up right where I left off in the Prologue...Reese and Finch try to find out how Ella became involved with their previous _POI, _her background and why her number came up.  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Reece/OC  
><strong>Many Thanks to my Beta ParkerAlexis88 for taking on a newbie! You are awesome!<strong>  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Chapter 1 picks up right where the prologue left off. I really wanted to try and write a good story involving Reese and a romantic interest other than Finch (there are quite a lot of those out there and I didn't really want to use Carter either).  
>Please, please, please review! This is my very first PUBLISHED fanfic and I need constructive criticism to become a better writer.<br>Rating for adult content, language and lemons in later chapters.

"Hello Ella." Reese whispered.

Ella inhaled sharply. Reese watched as several different emotions crossed over her face in that moment; surprise, confusion, anger and finally fear. The fear however, was fleeting. Ella's eyes narrowed up at Reese.

"Who are you and how the hell do you know my name?" Ella pushed the gun harder into Reese's side.

Reese's eyes flickered down to the gun again and back up to Ella's face. He had already decided how he could disarm her but chose instead to wait until the right moment.

"My name is John, Ella."

Finch had been feverishly searching for as much information as possible on Ella while he listened in on their short exchange. "Reese, I haven't been able to find much on Miss Morgan. It's as if she didn't exist before 1999. Eerily similar to a certain former Stasi agent we once knew."

Ella began speaking again. "OK John, and _how_ is it that you know my name?"

Reese cocked his head to the side and answered. "I have my sources."

His mind was mulling over the information Finch had just told him through his earpiece.

"And what else do your sources tell you John?"

The corner of his mouth curled up in a slight grin. He really did like her spunk...at least verbally; she wasn't as good at masking the fear he saw in her eyes."

"Oh...not as much as I would like." He paused before continuing. "But enough to know that you don't seem to have existed before 1999; at least not that we know of..."

Ella paled. Sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip almost instantly.

Reese continued slowly as he saw Ella's pulse accelerate at the base of her neck and her chest rise and fall more quickly. "...and since you are obviously older than twelve, I would venture to guess that you probably changed your identity. But why? That is the question that I don't have the answer to...yet.

Ella swallowed hard. Her brows drawn together in a look of sheer panic.

"That...that's none of your business!" She stammered.

Finch cut back in again. "Reese, whoever erased Ella's original information, if that is actually her name, was exceptionally good. I can't find anything on her at all. In my experience, a person who goes to this much trouble to erase their former identity is either running from someone very dangerous, has done something very bad and doesn't want to get caught, or is in the witness protection program. I don't believe that it is witness protection though because I would have been able to find at least something on her."

Reese silently agreed with Finch's assessment and thought that it was most likely the first option. However, with the girl's use of weaponry and the unknown substance she used on Ron earlier, the second option was definitely a possibility as well.

"Ella, I'm not here to harm you. I want to be very clear about that." Reese continued.

"Then _why_ were you following me?" She asked, pushing the gun even harder into Reese.

"You weren't the one that I was following originally." He answered tacitly.

"Then who...?" She started and then stopped when the realization dawned on her.

"Oh God. Ron...in the alley...you were there?"

Reese nodded once slowly.

" That's who you were following? But why...why didn't you try to stop me, or call the police?" Her eyes were searching his face for the answer.

He could tell that she was not coming to the right conclusion. He didn't want her to make a rash decision and draw attention to them.

His movements were swift and smooth. His right leg came up and curled around the back of her knees pulling them towards him causing her to lose her balance. Simultaneously he brought his left hand up to her right; pushing the gun up and out of Ella's hand and into his own and his right arm wrapped around her back to keep her from falling. In the next second he pivoted and had Ella's back pressed against the wall.

"Please, don't..." She gasped.

"Ella, I told you I would not hurt you."

He barely finished speaking when her eyes rolled back and she fainted where she stood. Reese still held her with one arm while he pocketed her gun.

"Finch, she fainted."

"Is she alright? What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Can you get a car here quickly, I'm not going to be able to carry her very far without being noticed."

"Just a moment."

Reese shifted Ella a bit so that he could lift her arm around his neck. Her head lolled towards his; her forehead coming to rest against his cheek. Reese frowned and brought his hand up to Ella's cheek and then slid it up to her brow.

"Finch..." He started but was quickly interrupted by Finch.

"I have a town car on it's way to you now Mr. Reese. It's two blocks away."

"We have another problem."

"Well, it really wouldn't feel like a normal day if we didn't meet our quota of issues, would it?"

"She's burning up Finch".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you know a good doctor? High temp, flushed skin. She has a fever. Now I'm not sure if she fainted because she was having a panic attack or if she's very ill. Either way just get a damn doctor."

No answer.

"Finch?"

"Bring her here." Finch quickly replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, unless you have another alternative other than a hospital or clinic where we wouldn't be able to keep her contained, then yes...I'm sure."

Reese scooped Ella up into his arms and walked down to the mouth of the alley. When he reached the sidewalk he peeked around the corner and watched as a black town car came to a stop in front of the alley. He quickly walked towards the car as the driver was walking around and opened the door for him. He gently set Ella down on the black leather seat. He told the driver to get in and hurry as he walked around and entered through the opposite door.

He slid in next to her, reached over and pulled the seatbelt across Ella and snapped it closed. He glanced up into the rearview mirror and caught the driver watching him.

"Drive...fast and keep your eyes on the road."

"Yes sir." The driver quickly complied and Reese felt the car accelerate.

Reese looked back over at Ella. Her color had returned with a vengeance. Now instead of being pale her skin, especially her cheeks were reddening quickly. He wondered to himself how long she had been sick. For the fever to be this advanced she couldn't have felt very well when she started out earlier to follow Ron but she certainly hadn't acted ill when she had Ron backed up against the wall or when she was stabbing the syringe into his groin. The profile he was creating with just the limited information he had on her so far was impressive...or frightening. He wasn't sure which.

Her head was lolling from the quick turns and she was shivering; her teeth chattering audibly. He removed his light wool coat and laid it over her then reached around and gently pulled her head onto his shoulder. A tiny groan escaped her lips as she tried to burrow further under his coat. Reese looked down at her. Her face was half covered by his coat and the other half was covered by her hair. He gently pushed her hair, now drenched from sweat, back behind her ear. She mumbled something he couldn't make out. He moved his head down so that his ear was closer to her face.

"What did you say Ella?" He asked solftly.

"Why?" She sighed and then shivered.

"Why, what?" He stroked the side of her head not currently pressed into his side.

"Wh...why is it s..so cold?" She was slurring her words slightly

"Oh, I know and I'm sorry you're so cold. We're on the way to the doctor now. Please try to sleep."

"It hurts."

"What hurts?." He started stroking her from her head, down her neck to her shoulder and back hoping to comfort her just a little.

"I...I think he..." She shivered again. Her hand clutched his coat closer around her neck.

"found me." She finished.

Reese frowned down at her. "Who Ella?"

"Can't let...I kn..knew." She sighed again. He was just about to ask her what she meant when he continued.

"Don't let him. Ok?" She tried to turn her head up to look at him but she didn't have the strength.

"Don't let who do what?" He asked, bending his head down to her again.

The car braked quickly and Reese looked up. He saw Finch walking out to the car and the driver had just got out and was walking around to Ella's side to open the door. He quickly looked back down at her.

"Ella?" He shook her gently.

Her car door opened and Finch leaned in just as Ella whispered the answer.

"Kill me."

Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffy! I will try to get an update posted asap. 


	3. Chapter 2

A Matter of Trust

**Chapter 2 Summary:** Immediately picks up where Chapter 1 left off...Reese and Finch try to find out how Ella became involved with their previous _POI, _her background and why her number came up.  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Reece/OC

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!

**Author's Note:** I am SOO sorry for the delay in updating. Real life and all is a bitch sometimes. Chapter 2 picks up right where chapter 1 left off.

**Many Thanks to ParkerAlexis88 and November9Noir. Thank you both for your words of encouragement and advice!**

Please, please, please review! This is my very first PUBLISHED fanfic and I need constructive criticism to become a better writer.  
>Rating for adult content, language and lemons in later chapters.<p>

A Matter of Trust

"Ella?" He shook her gently.

Her car door opened and Finch leaned in just as Ella whispered the answer.

"Kill me."

Chapter 2

Reese tore his eyes from Ella to look up at Finch. Both generously arched brows raised in question as Finch glanced from Reese, to Ella and then back to Reese again. Reese grimaced and turned his head slightly. 

"Just let me get her inside Finch and then I'll fill you in."

"Indeed." Finch answered as he backed away from the car's doorframe.

Reese slid his arm that had been resting around Ella's shoulders down her back. He turned his knees toward her and moved his other arm under her knees and pulled her onto his lap so that he could slide towards the open door. She turned her head towards him so that her face was now nestled against his neck and her arm settled against his chest. He could feel her ragged breaths against his skin. He wondered for the second time today how she had become so ill so quickly and how the hell she had functioned so well earlier.

He eased them both out of the car and walked up to the familiar building he frequented almost daily to receive information from Finch on their newest person of interest. Finch held the door open for him and extended his arm towards the staircase letting Reese know to take her upstairs to one of the upper floors.

"I have a room set up for her on the second floor. Dr. Tillman is waiting to examine her." Reese paused to look over at Finch. Dr. Megan Tillman had been one of his and Finch's "non-victim" person of interest cases. Her number had come up because she was stalking the piece of shit who had drugged and raped her little sister. Her sister, like so many other rape victims had not ever been able to recover and ended up taking her own life.

Reese was able to empathize with the doctor's situation but recognized that had she been able to go through with her plan of killing him, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life. He saw the intervention as saving her life because he knew that if she had carried through with murdering the asshole in cold-blood she would not have been able to live with herself. Reese had sat down and talked with her, made her realize that if she carried through with her plans that it would ruin her. Thankfully, she had listened to him. She was extremely thankful and told Reese that if there were ever anything that he might need, to call her.

Reese had been so distracted earlier that he had not even thought about Dr. Tillman when he had asked Finch about getting a doctor for Ella. He didn't like the feeling; the distraction, but he would have time to mull that over later. For now he had to get Ella upstairs to Dr. Tillman.

"Coming, Mr. Reese?" Finch had climbed the first set of marble stairs while he stood there…distracted. "I would take her but honestly I'm happy just to get myself up the stairs these days." Finch quipped.

"Funny, Harold." Reese didn't laugh but instead climbed the stairs quickly, considering the extra weight he was carrying. This did not go unnoticed by Finch. There were so many different qualities that he admired in John; his almost never-ending strength was definitely one of those qualities. There were even times when he envied the man...this was one of those times.

Finch pivoted and led the way down a long dimly-lit hallway. Like the steps, the floor here was marble as well. They passed three closed doors the fourth door was open; a long rectangle of light leading the way into the room. Their dress shoes echoed down the hall announcing their arrival. Reese watched Dr. Tillman step out into the hallway as they approached the room.

"Hello John. Nice to see you again." She flashed a kind smile up at him and then her eyes moved to Ella still shivering in Reese's arms. She walked up to Reese and laid her wrist on Ella's forehead. Her brows pulled together in a frown of concern. "Bring her in so I can examine her." She turned and Reese followed her into the room. He saw that a hospital-type bed had been brought in, or who knew...maybe it had always been here for emergencies, he thought to himself. He would make it a point to thank Finch for always thinking of everything once Ella was taken care of and things were back to normal. Well, at least as normal as things could get.

There was an array of machines gathered around the bed that would inevitably be beeping or hissing loudly within the next few minutes. Reese gently bent to lay Ella on the bed. Ella whimpered as her arm slid from its grip around his neck. She tried to reach up and hold on to him but her arm fell back to the bed. "It's alright Ella." He whispered and then took her hand in his. She held onto his hand with a weak grip.

"Plea…please, don't leave." She was still slurring her words and spoke without even opening her eyes. He couldn't understand why she wasn't afraid of him, much less wanting him to stay with her after what had happened earlier. Something else he would have to analyze at a later time.  
>"I won't leave." He answered, squeezing her hand softly in return. "I'll stay right here with you but there is a very nice doctor here that would like to help you feel better. OK?"<p>

She nodded once. "Promise?" She asked weakly.

"Promise." He answered with a small smile even though she couldn't see him.

Absently, he reached out and brushed her hair back that had fallen across her eyes when he had laid her down. He realized what he had done and jerked his hand back, but not quickly enough. He could feel the two pairs of eyes he knew were staring at him. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much that Finch and Dr. Tillman had seen his reaction, but it did. He moved to the head of the bed still holding on to her hand and looked back at the doctor with hooded eyes.

Dr. Tillman moved to Ella's side and immediately started checking her vitals. Reese watched the doctor lift his coat off of Ella and then start to remove Ella's shirt. He stepped forward laying his free hand on the doctor's arm. "Is that necessary Dr. Tillman?" She glanced at his hand on her arm and then looked up at him kindly; seemingly unperturbed. "Yes John, I need to attach the EKG leads to her chest and I can also get a more accurate blood pressure reading."

He nodded once. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She answered.

He watched her remove Ella's long-sleeve button up shirt; only letting go of her hand once so that Dr. Tillman could slide Ella's arm out of the sleeve. It was then that he noticed that Ella wouldn't be too exposed; she had a tank top underneath her other shirt.

Dr. Tillman then attached the EKG wires to Ella's chest, pressed a few buttons to start the monitor and then wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm. The slow hiss of the machine pumping air into the cuff, slowing tightening around her arm was bothering him but he wasn't sure why. Probably because he knew how uncomfortable it could be but Ella didn't seem to notice.

The last thing she checked was Ella's temperature. Reese saw the thermometer's digital display showing her temperature was 104.2. His eyes widened in shock but he said nothing as he looked down at the doctor who had started wiping Ella's arm with an alcohol pad. She hooked up the IV tube which held a bag of clear fluid. Ella flinched when the doctor inserted the needle but still didn't open her eyes. The doctor turned a tiny little knob on the tube which allowed the fluid to begin slowly flowing downwards through the IV and directly into Ella's bloodstream.

"Dr. Tillman…" Finch started. Reese looked over at him having forgotten that he was still in the room. "Will she be alright?"

"Well, it's a good thing that she was with someone when the fever hit her. She's probably been sick for a couple, three days and has just been ignoring the signs. I'm betting that it's a very bad case of Strep."

"Strep Throat? It made her that sick?" Finch asked.

"Absolutely…" Dr. Tillman shook her head. "We've seen both children and adults come into the E.R. presenting with extremely high fevers but their biggest complaints weren't sore throats. This isn't your mom and dad's Strep. These days the Strep virus strains are very resilient and extremely resistant to antibiotics. They cause horrible headaches and stomach aches. Some people don't even get sore throats anymore."

Reese looked back down at Ella. He hadn't even realized that his thumb was lightly rubbing the top of Ella's knuckles while Dr. Tillman had been speaking.

"How long before she's well Dr. Tillman?" Reese asked, once again looking up at the doctor.  
>Dr. Tillman walked over to her medical bag where she retrieved a white plastic bottle similar to an off-brand bottle of Asprin. She walked over to Reese and handed him the bottle. "I'm going to go ahead and assume that you'll be with her while she recovers." Reese nodded.<p>

"She'll probably be in and out of consciousness for the next day or two, at least until her fever breaks. I'm going to leave two IV bags with a broad-spectrum antibiotic to start her on as soon as the bag of saline is empty." She pointed at the IV bag. "Do you know how to change out the bag?"

"Yes." Reese answered.

"Alright, then tomorrow change the bag again to the second bag of antibiotics. Give her until the day after to be awake enough to be able to start on the pills. These are also antibiotics. Have her take one twice a day. If her fever doesn't break or if she's not doing better by the day after tomorrow call me right away. I'll need to start her on something else. If she is doing better have her finish the meds; her body has to have a chance to recover."

Reese nodded. "Thank you doctor."

"You're welcome John. I owed you one." He smiled down at her. She returned the smile and then turned to pick up her medical bag. She walked over to Finch and shook his hand as he thanked her again for dropping everything when he had showed up at her hospital unexpectedly. Their short conversation continued as Reese turned back to look down at Ella. Her face seemed to have relaxed a bit from the pained look it had held earlier.

He heard Dr. Tillman leave and Finch walked over to his side.

"Well Mr. Reese, it looks like we may have taken in a stray." Reese exhaled quickly through his nose in a half-laugh, half-sigh and looked over at Finch. "Not really the term I would use Finch."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't." He answered and cocked his head at Reese.

"What are you getting at Harold?" He asked in a tone that held a hint of warning.

Finch's lips pursed and he sighed. "Oh, nothing…you just seem to have taken quite an…" he was struggling with the right words to use with Reese. "…interest in our newest subject…protective even, in a very short time is all."

The muscle in Reese's jaw twitched but he didn't respond.

Finch walked over to a comfortable looking armchair sitting in the corner of the room. He stepped behind it and started pushing it slowing towards Reese.

"What are you doing Finch?"

"Well, you can't stand all night and it doesn't look like I'll be able to talk you into taking a break anytime soon." He reached the side of the bed and Reese pulled the chair a little closer with his free hand and sat down, his other hand never releasing Ella's. The bed was currently at its lowest level setting so Reese was almost at the same level when he sat down onto the chair. The chair was just as comfortable as it had looked.

"Would you like for me to get you anything to eat or drink Mr. Reese?"

Reese sighed. "Maybe a cup of coffee, if it's not too much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all. Cream or sugar?"

Reese shrugged. "It doesn't matter really. Surprise me?" Finch nodded and turned to go.

"Hey Harold?"

"Yes, Mr. Reese?"

"Thanks."

Finch smiled _that_ smile. The same smile Reese saw every time he thanked Finch for anything. Almost as if Finch were looking for the answer to the most interesting question that could only be found on Reese's face. "You're welcome." Finch answered as he left the room.

John turned back around and sighed. He felt his shoulders drop as he let his head lean back on the cushioned leather of the chair's headrest. He hadn't realized how tense he was until that moment. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and let his mind wander. His eyes slowly closed with his hand still wrapped around Ella's resting by her side on the bed.

Finch walked into the room, the words he was going to say to Reese never leaving his lips. Reese was asleep in the chair. This was probably the most relaxed Finch had ever seen the man. He set the two coffee cups, down on one of the many bookshelves lining the walls of the room that he had brought back for himself and Reese seeing as the man wouldn't be drinking his anytime soon.

He walked over to a large wooden armoire and opened one of the drawers. Finch lifted a couple of the folded blankets from the drawer and chose the dark brown crocheted blanket. He walked over to Reese quietly, he didn't want to wake the man, not only because Finch knew he needed the sleep but he also knew it could be dangerous to startle a man like Reese out of a deep sleep. He was liable to be on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back before he could blink; it wouldn't be Reese's fault, it would just be a reaction born from years of combat training. Finch laid the blanket gently over Reese. Thankfully the man didn't wake.

Finch had only been away for about an hour; good coffee took time! Well, _getting_ good coffee took time in New York because of the traffic this time of day, or any time of day for that matter.  
>He checked the bag of saline still dripping from the IV bag. It looked to be about half-full. He took note of the time so that he could come back in about another hour to change out the IV bag to the antibiotics... if Reese wasn't awake by then. He decided that he would spend the time finding out as much information on Ella that he could since he hadn't been able to earlier.<p>

Finch looked down at her... studying her. He could understand why Reese was so taken with Ella. She was mysterious, slightly stand-offish, quick on her feet-she could definitely handle herself in difficult situations, obviously not afraid of taking matters into her own hands and it didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes. He turned and walked from the room thinking of all the databases that he could search for information on their mystery woman.

Yes, John was definitely interested in her, much more interested than he probably even realized...  
>********************************<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

A Matter of Trust

**Chapter 3 Summary: Picks up right where Chapter 2 left off.**

**Pairings**: Reece/OC

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Please, please, please review! This is my very first PUBLISHED fanfic and I need constructive criticism to become a better writer.

**Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. They mean so much!**

Rating for adult content, language and lemons in later chapters.

**I am trying to keep my fic running parallel with the series as much as possible but for the purposes of my little story…Reese will find out that Carter's number came up in a totally different time and place than in "Get Carter."

Chapter 3

Finch continuously glanced at the time on one of the many computer screens covering his large mahogany desk. It was almost time to go change out the IV bag for Ella. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he searched database after database that had any information on Ella before she disappeared off the grid in 1999. The complete lack of information made him think that whatever happened to her must have been pretty bad and whoever helped her must have been very good with computers. He wondered to himself if there _was_ someone helping her then are they still in contact with her? If so, they might be missing her now and may even be trying to contact her. He glanced at the time again and rose from his chair to go check on Ella.

Finch entered the room quietly after noticing that both Ella and John were still asleep. He walked over to the IV stand behind John's chair and removed the empty saline bag. He replaced it with the new bag of antibiotics and started the drip. He looked over at Ella before he quietly left the room. He hoped the medicine would work quickly; he didn't like seeing the girl so ill. It made him very uncomfortable and brought back memories he would rather not revisit…

*****************************************************

Reese was startled awake out of a sound sleep. He didn't know how long he had been asleep or what had woke him up but he was now alert, his eyes performing a quick scan of the room. His eyes fell on the bed next to him and the woman lying in it. Ella.  
>He relaxed slightly when he heard the small noise coming from her and realized that must have been what had woke him. It was a small moan, maybe a whimper he wasn't quite sure how to describe it. The sound escaped her lips almost every time she exhaled. It sounded like she was in pain. He rose from the chair where he had slept without the slightest bit of discomfort which really surprised him after sleeping in anything other than a bed. He also took note of a blanket falling to the floor that he did not remember having the last time he was conscious. Finch...the thought brought a small smile to his lips and then he noticed the new bag of antibiotics hanging from the IV stand rather than the saline solution that would have needed to be changed hours ago; Something else that he would thank Finch for when he saw him.<p>

Ella made the small noise again breaking into his thoughts. He realized then that he had released his hold on her hand. He wondered to himself when he had let go. He reached out and touched her forehead with the back of his fingers and lightly slid them down to her cheek. She was still very warm but he noticed a light sheen of sweat on her forehead glistening in the soft glow from the small lamp in the corner of the room. Her body seemed to be trying to break the fever. The moisture would help to cool down her temperature.

He pulled his hand back as she rolled towards him and curled her knees up almost into a fetal position. Reese adjusted the IV tubes so that she wasn't laying on them and then started stroking her hair. He didn't know what else to do; he felt completely helpless. She had received the saline to keep her hydrated and the antibiotics to help her body fight the infection but he couldn't do a damn thing to help her feel better now.

He continued stroking her head and slipped his other hand into hers. He felt a slight pressure on his fingers. Reese watched Ella's face patiently, hoping that she might wake up, if only for a short time. His patience was rewarded after a few minutes when she inhaled deeply and as she exhaled, slowly her eyes began to open. They opened and closed a few more times before she was able to open them enough to focus on anything.

Reese watched her in nervous anticipation hoping she would remember that she had asked him to be there…no, begged him to stay, but he was ready for her to go into full panic mode at the sight of him. She hadn't exactly been in her right mind the last time she spoke to him.

Ella's blue eyes rose to meet his. They were so bloodshot from the fever that he almost didn't notice the blue. Her brows drew together in a pained look.

"Did he follow me?" She whispered.

Definitely not what he had been expecting. He raised his brows in surprise.

"Did _who_ follow you Ella?

She closed her eyes and frowned. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere safe." He answered.

She opened her eyes again as he continued.

"I brought you here when you fainted earlier." He paused. "You had a very high fever so I brought you here…to see a doctor."

"You…you brought me to a hospital?" Her eyes widened; taking on a slightly panicked look.

"No, this isn't a hospital."

Ella glanced down at her arm and saw the tube leading to the needle in her arm. "But…" she started and then noticed his hand around hers.

Reese released her hand. "I'm sorry. Before, when you were still awake…" He sighed. "You asked me to stay. Do you remember anything from earlier?"

She nodded, her head never leaving the pillow.

"I remember…you were following me." Her eyes flickered up to his and then narrowed. "John."

Hesitantly he answered her. "Yes."

In the next second Ella jerked back from him quickly and sat up. He watched her sway slightly. She put her hand down onto the bed to try and keep herself steady and raised her other arm between them. "Get away!" She yelled.

The IV tube swung frantically from her raised arm. Reese watched her eyes shift to her arm; he moved quickly grabbing her wrist before she could rip the IV needle out of her arm. She struggled trying to pull her arm back from his grip. "Stop!" She yelled. "Let go of me!" Ella struck out with her other arm landing a sharp blow to his sternum with the butt of her palm. It took him by surprise; enough so that she was almost able to land another before he had restrained that arm as well. He held them as gently as he could without letting her slip from his grip but he wouldn't call it easy.

"_He_ sent you, didn't he?" She ground out as she continued to try and pull away from him. Her legs didn't seem to be working quite as well as her arms though so she wasn't able to get out of the bed or God forbid strike out at him with them.

"Please calm down. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Liar!" She yelled. She was still struggling but he could feel her strength waning. It wouldn't be long now before she lost it completely and collapsed.

"No one sent me Ella." Reese's soft voice raised only slightly for her to hear over her own struggles.

She paused to look up at him. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because Ella…" He started, and in a good-faith gesture let go of just one of her wrists. "…if I wanted to hurt you, there's nothing that you could have done to stop me."

Her mouth opened slightly as if to respond but didn't. He watched as a myriad of expressions crossed her face finally settling on confusion.

"Then why?" She glanced at his fingers still wrapped around her wrist. "Why were you following me? Why did you bring me…" She indicated the room with a shrug of her shoulder "…here?"

"I told you why I brought you here Ella. You needed a doctor." He said simply. He watched as she sighed and then her shoulders drooped. Her energy spent.

"I promise to answer your questions once you're feeling better and I have some questions for you as well. K?" She still didn't look comfortable with the situation but he knew the fight was over…for now.

"You should lay back and rest now." He adjusted the IV tube attached to her arm that he was still holding and then gently laid her arm down on the bed.

Ella glanced over at the IV stand as she lowered herself back down onto the bed.

"What's in it?" She asked.

"A broad spectrum antibiotic. The second round will be started sometime tomorrow and then I have some pills for you to start on in a couple of days."

Ella cocked an eyebrow up at him. "Where's the doctor?"

"She's already gone. After she had you stabilized she felt comfortable enough leaving you in our care."

"Our?" She immediately asked. That look of fear was back on her face.

"Yes, a friend Ella. His name is Harold…and there's no reason to be afraid, as you'll find out when you meet him."

She shook her head against the pillow and closed her eyes.

Reese laid his hand on her forehead lightly. "Are you all right?"

Ella opened her eyes and looked up at him. She just caught the concerned look on his face before it was gone. "Yeah, it's just…a lot to…" She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Process?" He finished for her.

"Yep." She whispered.

"I know. That's why I wanted to talk to you after you feel better. You need to concentrate on getting well right now." He reached down near her feet to the sheet and blanket and pulled them both over Ella. "And Ella…"

"Hmm?" She looked back up at him.

"I don't know who you're worried about find you but trust me, you're safe here. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Ella watched as his expression took on a hard confidence that left no room for doubt that he was absolutely serious. She _was…is_ safe with him…John.

Her eyes fluttered closed. "Thank you." She said softly before drifting off to sleep.

"You're Welcome." He whispered as he reached out and stroked her cheek once.

Reese turned when he heard a small noise at the door.

"Hello Harold."

Finch allowed a quick smile before walking across the room to stand beside Reese. "How's our patient Mr. Reese?"

"Resting again." He answered quietly. "We had a little chat before she passed out again. I told her about you…" Finch turned stiffly and looked up at Reese. Reese held up a palm to stop Finch from interrupting. "I told her your name and that you're a friend. She needed to know that she can trust you Finch because if I have to _leave _for any reason I didn't want her having another panic attack and hurting herself, or you." He raised his brows. "Good thing too Finch because she can pack quite a punch even as sick as she is."

"Indeed." Finch responded.

"Speaking of leaving Mr. Reese…funny that you should mention that."

"Why Finch, did another number come in?"

Finch frowned and looked quickly at Ella and then back up to Reese. "If you please, Mr. Reese." He said as he turned and walked towards the door.

Reese followed him out of the room and into the hall.

"I would really prefer not discussing anything about the Machine or numbers in front of anyone…even if they appear to be unconscious." Reese nodded once in compliance and Finch continued. "In answer to your question, yes, another number has come up and it's someone we know. Reese frowned in response. "Who is it Finch?"

Finch looked up at Reese as he answered. "It's our friend…Detective Carter."


	5. Chapter 4

A Matter of Trust

**Chapter Summary: This chapter takes place during "Get Carter" episode 9. There are some places where I am going to go off canon a bit, so please forgive those little episodes. It's only because I don't have that episode on my DVR and I'm just going off memory as to the sequence of events.**

**Pairings**: Reece/OC

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!

**Author's Note:** Please, please, please review! This is my very first PUBLISHED fanfic and I need constructive criticism to become a better writer or just fluffy reviews are always good for the ego ;-)  
>Rating for adult content, language and lemons in later chapters…yes, it will eventually get there! I swear!<p>

**A quick, "I'm sorry" to Grand Master Darkstorm for condensing Reese's scene where he blows up the garage door to Hector's shop. I promise for some more action scenes soon!

Chapter 4

"Carter?" Reese asked incredulously.

"Yes. Apparently, while you were sleeping, our mutual acquaintance has been ruffling the feathers of several less than savory characters."

Reese frowned. "Several?"

Finch nodded and gestured to follow him. "I'll show you." Reese started after finch and stopped. He glanced towards the open door where Ella still slept. "She'll be fine Mr. Reese." Finch said without pausing. Reese went back and pulled the door closed and then turned again to catch up to Finch.

The two men walked down the stairs and through the hall to the open area where Finch's computer screens were awaiting with the information that Finch had pulled up when Carter's number had come up just a couple of hours ago. Finch took his seat as Reese stood behind him.

"Meet Hector Alvarez." Finch pointed to the monitor directly in front of him. "Currently our Detective is investigating the murder of Ronny Middleton. He was gunned down last night in front of a bodega and Mr. Alvarez is the prime suspect. He has known gang ties and a knack for making witnesses disappear that agree to testify against him. I also have a feeling there's more going on at Hector's Champion Auto Repair than just fixing up cars."

Reese nodded. "And the others?"

Finch pointed to the picture on the next screen. "This is Arnold Kovach. For some reason Carter has taken an interest in his wife Brenda. She has been to the police station twice and officers have been called out to their home more times than that. Mr. Kovach seems to have a penchant for helping his wife fall down the stairs or walk into walls. I'm not sure why the Detective has taken such an interest in this particular case."

Reese had an idea but he didn't share it with Finch.

Finch looked at the third picture. "And of course there's our newest mob boss Elias-who's already taken a shot at her once before."

Reese pivoted and quickly walked towards the door grabbing his leather jacket from the coat rack. "I'll start with Hector." He called out as he walked out the door. Reese thought that Hector was probably the threat that was most imminent...

Finch knew that Reese would take care of Hector and anyone else that threatened Detective Carter but that didn't completely disperse the feelings of dread every time he watched Reese leave the building. A few keystrokes later and he was watching John swing his long leg over the flat-black Ducati parked in the alley beside the library, start the engine and speed off to find Hector. Finch didn't miss the duffel bag slung over Reese's shoulder like a messenger bag that probably held an assortment of weapons for his confrontation with Alvarez.

It would probably only take about a half hour for Reese to reach the body shop... which was plenty of time to check in on Ella. A few more keystrokes and the next screen displayed a bird's-eye view of Ella's room where he saw that she was still asleep on the hospital bed. He looked a little closer at the monitor and it looked like she was tossing her head back and forth. Finch rose from his chair and headed towards her room to check on her. He didn't want her to wake up alone and become frightened or take the chance that she might feel well enough to get up and go exploring.

Finch reached Ella's room and opened the door to find her still safely in bed but still tossing. He walked over to the bedside where he checked the I.V. bag and tube which looked to be just fine. He then picked up the temporal scan thermometer and swiped it across her forehead and down the side to her temple. The digital screen read 101.9 which was an improvement but still high for an adult. He turned and walked over to the sink at the far end of the room and filled the stainless steel bowl sitting on the counter with lukewarm water. He dropped the white washcloth into the bowl and walked back over to Ella.

He set the bowl down and wrung the water out of the rag. He folded it and placed it on Ella's forehead for a minute then wiped it across and down her face. He made a few passes over each side of her face hoping to help cool her down slowly rather than the days of old where she would have been immersed in a bath of cold water which most likely would have sent the girl into shock.

He heard her moan softly as he was rinsing out the rag. He looked over at her and noticed her eyelashes fluttering slightly. He wrung the rag out again and started smoothing it over her forehead and cheeks again. Ella's eyes started to open slowly and his hand paused. The deep blue eyes peered up at Finch meeting his own green eyes and to Finch's unexpected delight, she smiled.

"You must..." Ella's voice cracked. She cleared her throat, swallowed and tried again. "You must be Harold?" She asked. Finch's eyes blinked owlishly.

When he recovered he asked..."How did you know my name Ella?"

"John told me." Finch's eyebrows raised in question. "And what else did he tell you?"

"He said that you were a friend and that I didn't have any reason to be afraid of you. I see he was right." She cleared her throat again. "I'm usually a pretty good judge of character. John was able to convince me that he was trustworthy and that he wouldn't let anyone hurt me. I trust him about you as well."

Finch opened and shut his mouth a couple of times before he could respond. "Well I'm glad that you have come to trust our friend in such a short amount of time...but we can talk about that later. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I did, that's for sure. I'm told that's thanks to you and your doctor friend."

Finch smiled. "Well we couldn't just leave you in some dirty alley passed out with a fever now could we?"

"Well, if your friend John hadn't been following me to begin with you would have never known that I was sick or passed out in some alley now would you?"

"Touche' my dear." Finch responded.

"So...are you going to tell me why John was following me yesterday because I have a feeling that you had something to do with that just as much as he did."

Finch felt like the kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He wasn't even sure how she made him feel like that. He would have to revisit that later.

"Did you know he found me?" She whispered.

That changed the mood instantly. "Wait, who found you?"

Ella's eyes turned down to watch her own fingers clasped across her stomach. "John wouldn't answer my question either."

"Wait, how are we supposed to know who you are referring to if you don't tell us?" Finch responded.

Ella sighed and Finch could tell that she was still very tired and that this particular conversation seemed to be draining her rapidly.

"Trust me Harold, you don't want to know and you want to be involved even less." She finished just before she yawned.

"Ella, you would be surprised how much we would like to be involved but now is not the time. You've been through a lot and had a lot to take on top of being very sick. Why don't you go back to sleep for a while and we can talk more when you're feeling better."

Ella looked like she wanted to argue but she just didn't have the strength.

"OK." She said as she reached for the light blanket and pulled it up around her shoulders. "Will John be back soon?" She mumbled as her eyes started to droop.

Finch smiled. He thought that Ella just might be as taken with John as he was with her.

"I'm not sure when exactly he'll be back. He's...out...working at the moment. I know that he'll be back as soon as he can but you need to worry about getting some rest now."

Finch looked over at the I.V. bag and decided to wait until after Reese got back to change it out and start the new bag. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He placed it on the table next to the hospital bed.

"Ella, the phone sitting on the table is in case you need anything at all. All you need to do is press and hold down the 1 key and it will ring straight to me, OK?"

Her eyes were just about closed but she responded. "So instead of a servant's bell...I have a cell phone? Gotta love technology."

"Indeed." Finch said. He chuckled as he turned and walked towards the door. He didn't notice the deep blue eyes watching his retreat…

Finch walked back down to the "observation room" as he had started calling it. He pulled up Reese's location by tracking his cell's GPS and had a visual on him within seconds. He was about ten minutes from Hector's garage. He punched in the numbers to Reese's phone.

"Miss me already Finch?" Were Reese's words of greeting. "I just wanted to let you know that I just had a very nice conversation with our guest."

"Ella's awake?" Reese's voice on the speaker was just a bit higher pitched than its usual smooth and even tone."

"Yes Mr. Reese, and before you ask…she does seem like she is doing better. Imagine my surprise though when she greeted me by name. I suppose I have you to thank for sharing that little bit of information with her?"

"I didn't really think you would mind Finch. I didn't think telling her…'hey, there's a mysterious man with no name that might be checking in on you' was very conducive to earning her trust. There's no telling what she would have done to you if she woke up to a strange man standing next to her. Like I told you Finch, she can handle herself pretty well and I wouldn 't want you getting hurt."

Finch could just see the smile that had to be plastered on Reese's face at that moment so he chose not to respond.

"Finch?"

"Anyway, I see that you're almost at Hector's. What's your plan once you arrive?"

"I didn't really have one Finch. I'll let you know when I get there."

"Just so you know Mr. Reese, Detective Carter was interviewing the owner of the bodega this afternoon where Ronny Middleton was shot and Mr. Garcia just happened to be driving by when she walked out. I guess she thought it was a good idea to confront him with no backup or protection at all. She really should be more careful."

"I agree Finch. I may just tell her that the next time we talk."

"And just when were you planning on speaking with Detective Carter, Mr. Reese?"

"Oh, I don't know Finch, when the time's right."

"Right." Was Finch's short response.

"So Finch, did you leave Ella by herself to wander the halls?"

"Of course not. I left after she had gone back to sleep. She seemed very tired after our conversation. I tried finding out more about this man that she's been saying has "found her" but she's very good at changing the subject."

"Sounds like someone else I know, Finch." Reese mumbled.

"I'll go back and check on her when you're on your way back. By then it should be time to start the second bag of antibiotics anyway."

"Almost there, shouldn't…" Reese continued talking but Finch had stopped listening to him. He could swear he heard something, a noise coming from the room behind him.

"Finch?" Reese's raised voice rose over his thoughts through the speaker.

"Yes Mr. Reese, I'm sorry. What did you say?" Finch ignored the noise for the moment as Reese continued. "I'm at Hector's. I'm getting ready to go in." Finch's gaze turned to the monitor showing the front of Hector's garage with Reese at the very bottom corner. He was pulling something out of the duffel bag.

"What do you mean you're going in? How?"

Reese didn't respond as Finch watched him lift what looked to be a very large gun and took aim. Reese jerked slightly as a large projectile was shot from the gun directly into the garage door of Hector's shop. Finch watched the door explode and then he watched in further disbelief as Reese walked straight towards where the large metal door used to be.

"Holy shit!" The voice rang out behind him. He jumped in surprise then swiveled in the chair and came face to face with Ella.

"Ella…you shouldn't be up!"

She tore her eyes away from the monitor to look at Finch.

Finch took a deep breath and asked. "How long have you been down here?"

"Long enough…" She shook her head, looked back at the monitor and then back at Finch.

"Who the hell are you people?"


	6. Chapter 5

A Matter of Trust

**Chapter Summary:** Takes place during the first part of "Get Carter"

**Pairings**: Reece/OC

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Please, please, please review! This is my very first PUBLISHED fanfic and I need constructive criticism to become a better writer.  
>Rating for language and adult content in this chap.<p>

A Huge THANK YOU to all of you that continuously review and follow my story. You have no idea how good it makes me feel ;-)

And last but definitely not least, thanks to my hubby for helping me edit this bad boy! 

Chapter 5

"Who the hell are you people?" Ella whispered. 

Her gaze once again turned to the monitor showing John walking confidently towards Hector's garage, the same garage that he had just blown the door off of with a Def Tech launcher. He dropped it and pulled out another gun that Ella thought looked like a TDI Vector. She watched in horror as he walked through the hole in the metal garage door and disappeared. The call between John and Harold was still active over the speaker phone so Ella was able to hear the multiple shots coming from the building and then she heard John speaking.

"Knock knock." A pause and then some shuffling, possibly metallic. "What do we have here? Hector's a busy man. Fixin' up cars and running guns."

Another voice, slightly muffled and definitely not John. "Who are you man?"

John answered. "You tell Hector I'm the guy that just put him out of business. I see him again, I'll close down more than his shop."

Ella watched as a purple GTO came screaming out of the garage backwards, hit the road and screeched away down the street, Ella presumed, with John at the wheel.

One brow slowly rose as she looked back at Harold. 

He hit the button on the phone to disconnect the call.

"You really shouldn't have seen that." He said sheepishly.

"Shouldn't have seen what exactly? John using a grenade launcher...uh, shooting up a garage, or stealing a car that belongs to, what sounds like a really bad dude? What exactly was it that I _shouldn't_ have seen Harold?"

Finch squinted. "All of the above."

"Uh huh." She drawled.

"I don't suppose I could convince you that it was all a figment of your imagination or maybe hallucinations brought on by your fever?"

Ella shook her head slowly.

"I was afraid of that." Finch mumbled.

"So what happens now Harold?" Ella asked.

John sped through the streets for a few more blocks before slowing down a little. He knew of a couple of different lots where he could leave Hector's GTO so that it would be towed and eventually impounded. It seemed such a shame to let such a great car go to waste but giving it to someone in need would raise too many questions. Besides, if Hector ever saw it, he would immediately recognize it which would put whoever was in it in danger. There couldn't be that many 64 GTO's running around...at least not in this color. He briefly entertained the idea of having it repainted but he had more important things to deal with at the moment. He wanted to get back to check on Ella...

He drove to a lot far from Hector's side of town so that there would be less chance that either Hector or any of his associates might recognize the car in passing. He parked the car, got out and walked around it while running his hand along the silky finish. He had an idea. He went to pull out his cell and noticed it was gone. Damnit, he thought. He would buy a replacement on his way back. He walked out to the street and hailed a cab, gave the cabbie the address to the coffee shop up the street from the library and he was again mobile.

On the walk back to the library from the coffee shop Reese stopped at a street vendor where he bought a disposable cell and dialed.

"Detective Fusco." Was the man's greeting.

"Hello Lionel."

"Hey, you got anything to do with that explosion at Hector Alvarez's garage?

"Now Lionel, why ever would you think that I would be involved in something like that?"

"Oh I don't know...maybe the fact that whoever destroyed the place used some kind of grenade launcher?"

Reese chuckled softly.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Was Fusco's response.

"Do you know any good body shops Lionel? Preferably one that employs someone who owes you a favor?"

He was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, actually I do."

"I'm going to text you an address, I need you to go there, pick up the 64 GTO sitting in the east corner of the lot. The keys are tucked up under the right front fender. Take it to your man and have him repaint it any other color he wants and then call me when it's done. And Lionel, make sure it's done discreetly." The phone disconnected before Fusco could reply.

About three hours had passed since Reese had left to take care of Hector. He walked through the doors of the old library and headed straight for the stairs. He took the steps two at a time up to the second floor and walked down the hall to Ella's room. What he saw made him quicken his steps. The door to Ella's room was open and there was an ominous machine-like tone coming from inside the room. He reached the room and saw that the bed was empty. The tone was coming from the Blood-Pressure monitor presumably because it was no longer able to get a reading seeing as Ella's arm was no longer in the cuff. He quickly looked around for any sign of her, found none, pivoted and ran out of the room.

Where the hell was she and where the hell was Finch. As he ran down the hall his worry quickly turned to anger, immediately thinking of the worst case scenario. He thought about what he would do to anyone that might hurt either one if them. Just as quickly his anger turned to shock as he rounded the corner and came to an abrupt halt.

Finch was sitting in his usual chair behind his monitors and Ella was sitting in a large chair next to him, her legs curled up and her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of something. The two of them could have been curled up in front of a warm fire discussing nothing more important than their favorite book for as comfortable as they looked. Finch looked up at him then.

"Welcome back Mr. Reese. We would have greeted you when you first got back but you were in quite a hurry to get upstairs...presumably to check on Miss Morgan but as you can see that was a wasted trip, she's right here."

"Hi John." Ella held up a hand in greeting. "Harold has been explaining a few things for me..."

Finch quickly interrupted. "Uh, yes...Mr. Reese, Ella happened to find me earlier while you were...visiting Mr. Alvarez's shop.

Ella chuckled. "Yeah, if by visiting...you mean taking out the front door with a grenade launcher and then shooting up the place with, what was it...a Vector?."

Reese attempted to hide his surprise but for the first time in a long time. He failed. His mouth hung open for just a moment before he was able to recover enough to speak. "Well, you definitely know your guns Ella."

He watched as Ella looked over at Finch, Finch looked back at Ella. They both shrugged, nodded and then turned back to look at Reese. What the hell...had he just walked into the Twilight Zone? Reese thought to himself.

"Mr. Reese, please have a seat and we'll explain." Reese nodded but did not say a word as he walked over to the closest chair and sat down facing them both.

A few hours...that's all he'd been gone and here was his hermit of a boss cozying up to a complete stranger. Reese wasn't sure that Finch had acted this comfortable with him in the few _months_ that he had known the man sitting across from him...and here this woman had accomplished this in a few hours.

The object of his thoughts was smiling at him as if she could read his mind. That, right there, was probably what did Finch in. The little man couldn't have resisted that smile. Hell, she probably had him spilling all of his secrets to her within minutes.

Not him though...he had enough training to be able to resist the charms of a pretty girl.

"Harold, would you like to start or should I?" Ella broke into his thoughts.

"I'll do it my dear."

My Dear? Reese thought. Who is this man and what did he do with the real Harold.

"Mr. Reese, I'm sure you're probably wondering why I am being so nonchalant about Ella seeing…" He waved his hand towards the monitors. "…all of this."

Reese didn't answer, he just nodded his head.

"Well, I believe that she can help be of help to our little operation here."

Both of Reese's brows raised quickly in surprise.

Finch held up his hand. "Before you say anything Mr. Reese, I have already given Ella a stern talk regarding her health. She will need to be completely well before she goes out into the field."

"OK Finch, stop right there. Reese stopped him. "What do you mean before she goes out into the field."

"I'm getting there Mr. Reese. Our Miss Morgan here has some pretty extensive background experience that you might find very interesting. Nothing, shall we say, _on the record_ but experience none the less. You see, she wasn't always so good at recognizing guns and being able to handle herself so well. Ella used to lead a relatively normal life...at least on the surface." Finch paused glancing at Ella. "Would you like to tell him the rest or would you like for me to?" He asked her.

Ella looked down at her cup and began speaking. "Harold's right, I definitely had a fairly normal life... on the surface. I had a pretty great childhood; wonderful parents but no brothers or sisters. During my freshman year in high school my principal nominated me for a scholarship for a very prestigious private school. I was awarded the scholarship and started sophomore year. My parents would never have been able to afford to send me there otherwise.

In the middle of my junior year I started dating this boy. He was a senior and still to this day I am not sure why he even noticed me to begin with... but he did. He was so sweet and attentive and, not that it was very important to me to begin with but, my popularity shot up almost instantly. We were inseparable through that year and the summer following. He went to college during my senior year but he would come home every weekend and every holiday. His friends were so wonderful while he was away. Two friends in particular were almost...over-protective sometimes. If a guy started talking to me they would always be waiting in the wings to make sure that whoever was talking to me didn't get too close or stay around too long. It really made me feel important and wanted." Ella looked up at Harold. He nodded and smiled kindly; encouraging her to go on.

"After I graduated we drove to my parents' house together so that they could meet him. He asked me to marry him that night. I was so surprised and so in love with him that I said yes of course. It was a whirlwind engagement. It all happened too fast but I got caught up in the excitement of it all. My parents were completely floored. They tried talking us into waiting, slowing it down but he told them that I was the girl for him and that he chose me. There was no reasoning with him and of course I stood behind him."

"My mother asked if we were rushing it because I was pregnant. I told her I wasn't and that I loved him and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. She said that she loved me and that she wanted me to be happy but she didn't trust him. There was something there that she couldn't quite put her finger on. I told her that she was crazy and that she was just trying to control how I lived my life." Ella shook her head, her eyes turned down again.

"I just...I wish I had known how right she was about him. We married a few weeks later. My parents were there but it wasn't the happy affair that I was hoping for. They tried to act happy but I could tell they weren't. After the wedding I was taken to a new city where I lived...well, I wouldn't call it living, more like trying not to die, with my husband for almost ten years."

At that, Reese who had been quietly listening to Ella's story snapped his head up. "Trying not to die?"

"Yeah. I lived in constant fear for years every single day of my life."

"What did he do to you Ella?" Reese had sat forward on the edge of the chair, his body poised almost like a panther ready to spring on some unsuspecting prey.

"He made it possible for me to become the person that I am today John. It was a long hard road that took years and years to get to the end. After he had my parents killed is when I started planning. I knew I wouldn't be able to just walk out the door or I could have done that years before. I tried once, to just run away and...well...I never tried again." The look Reese saw in her eyes was completely devastating. He decided then and there that if this husband of hers was still breathing that he would make it his mission in life to be the ultimate demise of this man that had hurt Ella.

She inhaled deeply and sighed then continued. "I started secretly researching everything that I could without causing any suspicion. If he had caught wind of anything that I was doing he would have killed me...or made me wish I was dead. I'm not sure what would have been worse. I would stop by a local coffee shop with free wi-fi and spend five...ten minutes at the most looking up battered women shelters in the area, self-defense courses, weapons, I even researched different substances that I could use to kill him would leave no traces to find during an autopsy. Like I said, anything that I could get my hands on. Originally, I was just going to kill him but he was much too careful. He would have found out and I just didn't want to take that chance. I had to be able to disappear...really disappear because this man would be able to find me if I left the slightest trace of evidence."

"So this man's still alive?" Reese asked and then realized that of course he had to be. "Wait...this is who you were talking about when you kept asking if "he" had found you."

"Yeah." Ella nodded. "John, I've had this horrible feeling for the past week or so. I can't shake it. I can feel it all the way down to my bones, he's close. I don't know yet how close but..."

"So you spent years not only learning how to defend yourself but how to fight as well. How did you make yourself disappear Ella? And If Finch here wasn't able to find out anything about you I'd like to know how this man would have found you?"

Ella glanced over at Finch and then back to Reese. "My husband was a very...important man. He was well connected in certain...arenas and had many friends in very high places. Fortunately for me, one of those friends found out what he was doing to me and started helping me very discreetly. She created a whole new identity for me after she found out that I was trying to leave him. She also created the diversion that allowed me the time to get away. By the time he knew what had happened I was long gone."

Reese watched as Finch reached over and laid his hand on top of hers. She smiled at him and then looked back at Reese. "This is only the second time in...seven years that I have told anyone my story."

"When was the first time?" John asked her.

"About two hours ago...when I told Harold."

Reese's brows rose quickly in surprise. It was hard enough for a trained government agent to keep secrets and here this woman hadn't told her secret to a single soul in years. He saw yet another reason why Finch liked her so much...intelligent, discreet, trustworthy and of course quite pretty. All the same qualities Reese himself looked for.

Reese looked over at Finch. "OK Finch, so what's your plan for Ella?"

Finch grinned. "Well Mr. Reese, I'd like you to meet your new partner."


	7. Chapter 6

A Matter of Trust

**Pairings**: Reece/OC

Rating for adult content and language

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!

**Author's Note: **Just a little side note...I typically refer to the characters as Reese and Finch but Ella doesn't know them like that. So, when Ella is thinking, speaking or watching the two men they will be referred to as John and Harold. Just wanted to put that out there for continuity's sake. :-) And please forgive any errors…I'm minus a Beta right now (Thanks to my hubby who read it over before I posted!) 

Chapter 6

Reese looked over at Finch. "OK Finch, so what's your plan for Ella?"

Finch grinned. "Well Mr. Reese, I'd like you to meet your new partner."

John felt the blood drain from his face. That...he had _not_ been expecting. Several different thoughts ran through Reese's head as his eyes fell on the woman sitting across the room. His emotional side screaming what a horrible idea this is and what the hell was Finch thinking. His rational side fought just as hard that he could always use another person in the field as backup, she's definitely got potential as an asset...no, not asset...partner. His emotional side is screaming again. There's no way she could do what he does, not without training. She would be a liability, he would be constantly distracted because he would be concerned for her safety all the time...and right there was the crux of it. He had worked with people before...Cara, Snow, Zoe and he had always been able to do his job. The difference – he knew, was that he felt differently about Ella. He wasn't sure how exactly but he could at least recognize that much.

Finch interrupted his thoughts. "John, before you say anything, you need to understand that this arrangement is contingent on two things..."

John's brows rose in question but his eyes remained on Ella.

"The first and most important thing is your approval of the arrangement. The second...your rules, regarding anything involving Ella...any training she needs, when you think she's ready...anything. Is this acceptable?"

Both Finch and Ella were watching him holding their breath. He stood suddenly and they both jumped. It would have been funny if the situation hadn't been so serious to him. He started pacing. His coping mechanism...

His languid movements back and forth across the small room made Ella think of a caged jungle cat. Beautiful but very deadly. She had to stop herself from reaching out to stroke the fur she had been imagining as he stalked in front of her and Finch. She shook off the thought when Finch started speaking again.

"You don't have to make your decision right now Mr. Reese. Ella is in no condition to do anything at the moment anyway. There is no rush." Her eyes flicked over to Harold and back to John.

Reese's pacing stopped and his head turned towards Finch.

"I'm sorry to change the subject but might I remind you..." Finch started. "...that our friend Detective Carter is still out making not-so-nice with the abusive husband and the insane mob boss."

Ella watched as the muscle in John's jaw jumped. He hadn't said a word in several minutes but his actions spoke volumes to her. She wasn't sure that he was going to agree to this new arrangement with her. All she could do for the time being was to hope.

"Where is Carter now?" He directed his question to Finch when he finally spoke.

Finch turned his chair towards his monitors and in a few swift key strokes Ella saw an image of a woman sitting at a desk in what looked to be a police precinct. She leaned forward to read the camera location name. _Doll Cam._ Odd name for a camera location name Ella thought to herself. She would have to ask Harold about it later. A few more keys and she heard sounds coming through the speakers where she had listened to John shoot up the garage earlier. She watched and simultaneously heard the woman sitting at the desk who she assumed was Detective Carter, pick up her phone, punch in some numbers and begin speaking.

"This is Lewis." Said the voice answering the woman's call. Ella assumed that John or Harold had bugged the woman's...Carter's phone

"Hey Jack, it's Carter.

"Hey Carter, I was just gettin' ready to call ya'."

"You got somethin' on Kovach?" She asked quickly.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to know if he left his place. He took off about five minutes ago and went to the pub just down the block from there."

"Great, thanks a lot Jack."

"Yeah you bet. Give me a call if ya need backup."

Carter hung up the phone and pocketed it. She grabbed her gun and holstered it, put on her jacket and walked out of the camera's line of sight. Finch's fingers were flying again and the monitor's picture jumped to what looked like a bird's eye view of the front of the 8th precinct building. Ella watched as the Detective walked out of the front of the building and headed east on foot.

John turned and headed towards the front door calling out as he grabbed his coat. "Get me the address of that pub Finch."

"Already have it. It's on the corner of..." Finch stopped talking as Reese had already walked out the door before he could finish. He grabbed the cell laying on the desk and sent a quick text with the location to Reese's cell. A minute later his phone was ringing with an unknown number showing on the display. He picked it up without a greeting.

"Hey Finch, I didn't get a chance to give you my new number. The old one is somewhere between here and Hector's shop."

"Good to know Mr. Reese since I just sent the address to your old number."

"Well send it to my new number. You've got it now." Finch could hear the slightly amused tone Reese was using and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he had upset him and _that_ was not something Finch was accustomed to doing. He wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

"I just sent it to you Mr. Reese. Call us back when you get there."

Finch heard the click, signaling that Reese had disconnected the call and turned to Ella.

"Well, that went better than I had expected."

Ella raised one brow in a look of mock horror. "Better?"

Harold quirked his own brow in return. "Oh yes. Better."

"OK." She muttered looking back at the screen where he had just pulled up another camera angle of Carter walking down the sidewalk. "So this Detective...Carter. What's her story? John seems..." She paused, searching for the right word. "..._protective_ of her."

"Yes..." Harold replied slowly but continued to watch the screen rather than expounding on his answer.

Ella frowned slightly. "I get the feeling Harold that maybe you don't..." Again she paused, trying to use the right word. "...approve?"

Harold sighed, taking his time in responding. "It's not a matter of approving or not. I believe that he is getting dangerously close to a person that has the capability of destroying our entire operation."

"You don't trust him?"

He turned to Ella. "You mean her?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean him."

"Well of course I trust him. I entrusted him with one of the most important secrets on the planet. I wouldn't have hired him if I didn't think that I could trust him."

"But you don't trust him enough to trust his judgement of another person?" She countered.

He narrowed his eyes at her in thought. "The Detective is...an innately good and moral person. That makes her a good cop but not necessarily the best person for a man like John, or myself for that matter, to get too close to. If it came down to it, no matter how many people we help, her first reaction would be to arrest him because in her book he is breaking the law. He's nothing more than a vigilante in her eyes. She sees the world as black and white, not as it is, with shades of grey.

Ella absorbed what Harold had said before responding. "Maybe he sees something in her that you can't yet. The potential to be someone that _can_ help."

"I suppose it's possible. Only time will tell."

" I hope you're wrong Harold." Ella smiled at him.

Harold nodded but did not respond.

The phone beeped; signaling a call coming in from John. Harold hit the Enter key answering the call on speaker.

"Finch, I'm here and so is Carter. She's at the bar with Kovach." He switched over to listen in on their conversation via her cloned phone.

Ella listened as the little Detective smarted off to the not-so-little man sitting next to her. His insinuations about how he would use his big "gun" to protect himself if she didn't mind her own business didn't phase her. Ella laughed when Carter responded: "I got a feelin' it ain't that big."

John chuckled too. "I gotta admit Finch, I like her style."

They watched as Carter walked back out of the bar. John chose to stay at the bar and watch Kovach. He had a feeling that she had made him angry enough that he might do something stupid either to Carter or to his wife. The man finished his beer, threw a couple bills on the bar and stalked out. John immediately stood and followed Kovach out.

"Are you going to stay on Kovach Mr. Reese?"

"Yeah, you keep an eye on Carter and I'll take care of him." John disconnected their call.

Harold sighed and then looked over at Ella. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm actually a little tired, believe it or not." Harold smiled kindly at her. "Well I can't imagine why." Was his sarcastic reply. She smirked in return.

He turned back to the monitors; watching as Carter walked into the precinct's parking garage. Then he pulled up the next camera's angle that showed the Detective getting into an unmarked police car. Ella looked over at Harold, both brows raised in surprise. "Uh...Harold, how in the hell are we watching the inside of a Detective Carter's car?"

He smiled and shook his head. "About that..." And Harold started explaining how he planted the camera in Carter's car while John sat in the diner keeping watch. He also told her about Carter's Confidential Informant, Bottle Cap a.k.a. BC, that she had met up with earlier. Harold looked over at Ella, after she had stopped responding to what he was telling her, and saw that she was curled up in the chair fast asleep.

He got up quietly and went to get a blanket for her. He draped it gently over her and sat back down to get back to watching Carter.

_Later that evening_

Ella thought she heard gunfire...yelling...she was sure she heard John's voice in the background somewhere. Something about being close enough. She drifted back out for what seemed like just seconds. She heard Harold talking, presumably to John, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Her head hurt which is what finally woke her up completely.

Sitting up slowly Ella opened her eyes carefully. She had been leaning on the arm of the chair where she had obviously fallen asleep. She groaned rubbing her neck. That was why her head hurt so damn much.

"A little sore?" She heard Finch ask her.

She looked over at him and nodded with a grimace. "How'd ya guess?"

"I've fallen asleep one too many times sitting right here and regretted it for days."

"Hey Finch," Ella heard John on the speaker. "It looks like Carter's working some overtime. She's not heading home yet."

"Are you going to stay on her?"

"Yeah."

Harold pulled up the detective walking down the street until she turned down an alley. He and Ella watched her walk towards a man standing about halfway down.

"Mr. Reese, she's meeting her CI."

"I see them Finch."

They listened as Carter gave the man some money, explaining that there would be more but the paperwork was slowing the process.

He apologized to her, saying that she had always been good to him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well ya know how you asked me to look into that guy Elias?"

"Yeah." She answered.

"Well, I found him...he said it was either me or you."

Ella knew what was going to happen before the man pulled the gun and pointed it at Carter but it didn't stop her gasp.

They watched the muzzle fire and heard the three pops of the gun being shot into Carter's chest. She went down onto her back. The man, BC stood over her; the gun pointed at her head.

"Well, It's gotta be you Carter."

The next second the man was jerking backwards and fell to the ground. Ella gasped again not seeing John until he walked into the camera's view, his gun still pointed towards BC as he came to a stop next to Carter.

"Glad you took my advice and started wearing the vest Detective." Carter closed her eyes and John leaned down placing his fingers on her neck.

"Is she all right Mr. Reese?" Harold asked.

"Yes, she just passed out. I'll wait until she's concious before I leave. If it's more than five minutes though I'm going to take her to the hospital."

"I don't need to warn you about how dangerous that is Mr. Reese."

"I'm not leaving her Finch, not here."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't." He replied.

Ella saw the detective start moving again. She grabbed at her vest, trying to pull the zipper down. She rolled her head to look up at John still standing over her.

"I know this doesn't change anything and I know you'll still arrest me if you get the chance but whether you like me or not Joss, you're never alone."

Ella turned her eyes towards Harold, her brows raised. Harold turned his chair towards her and shook his head. "See what I mean."

John turned and walked out of view. 


	8. Chapter 7

A Matter of Trust

Pairings: Reese/OC

Author's Note: I just wanted to take a minute to thank anyone that has reviewed and give a quick shout out to a few folks that Always review...  
>I so look forward to getting those (Review Alert) emails. It doesn't matter how shitty my day is or how frustrated I am with how my current chapter is coming along; they always make me smile :-)<p>

Grand Master Darkstorm, AdaYuki, and Anabella1969. THANK YOU!

And a Very special THANK YOU to my Bestie (and fellow author) **Joaquina** for your feedback, your emails, your Trust, and most of all for being a kickass person :-) Thanks my friend!

Hope you guys like this chap, I'm so sorry for the long wait for the update, I really struggled with this chap...as always, any feedback or suggestions on where you would like to see this fic go are welcome!

_"I know this doesn't change anything and I know you'll still arrest me if you get the chance but whether you like me or not Joss, you're never alone."_

_Ella turned her eyes towards Harold, her brows raised. Harold turned his chair towards her and shook his head. "See what I mean."_

_John turned and walked out of view._

Chapter 7

"Yes, I see Harold." Ella responded kindly. "I see that he definitely cares about what happens to Detective Carter. I don't think he took an unnecessary risk though. It's not like she could have jumped up and arrested him. I don't know if you've ever been shot while wearing a vest but I have and it hurts like a bitch. It hurts to breathe, it hurts to move and it feels like that for days, not minutes." Ella reached out and rested her hand on Harold's forearm. "I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong; I've known you both for a very short time and if I'm wrong then I'll be the first to admit it...but I don't think I am. John could have said the same thing about your trust in me ya know?"

Harold stared at the woman sitting next to him. She was extremely intuitive, almost frighteningly so but even more frightening was the fact that she was right. That didn't mean he had to admit that to her...at least not right away.

"Yes, but you're not a cop, you can't arrest both John and me and compromise this entire operation."

"You're right, I'm not a cop and I won't compromise your operation but John doesn't know that Harold. All he knows is what you've told him about me which, before I came out of it, wasn't much. What he does know is that he trusts you and I'm just saying that maybe you should trust him too."

The resigned look on Harold's face said it all.

Ella smiled at Harold, knowing that she had gotten through...if only just a little. "Hey, ya know what, I think I'm ready for something to eat; if the offer still stands."

"Certainly. Any food allergies or dislikes to anything in particular?"

"Nope, I'm easy." Ella smirked.

Harold got up slowly and limped from the room. Ella wondered what had happened to him. They hadn't really talked about anything other than her past and what he and John did now. She promised herself that she would find out and secretly wondered how long he had lived with his pain.

The cell phone that Harold had been using rang loudly making Ella jump. She picked it up looking at the screen; the display read _unknown number_. She got up and walked out of the room in the direction that Harold had went to try to find him.

"Harold!" She called out. Her voice echoed through the large and mostly empty rooms. She argued with herself whether to answer it or not. She called out his name one more time before deciding to go ahead and answer the call after not getting a response.

She pushed the 'answer' button on the screen.

"Hello?" She answered tentatively.

Her greeting was met with silence. She decided to try again and if she didn't get a response she would hang up.

"Hello." She tried with a little more confidence.

"Ella?" She froze. "Ella, is that you?"

Ella released the breath she had been holding; recognizing John's voice. "Hi John, yes it's me. I'm sorry I picked up but Harold left his phone here when he left to make me something to eat. I tried to find him but I couldn't, which is why I picked up the phone. I'm sorry, I know I probably shouldn't have, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't important." Her words rushed out in a nervous flourish.

She heard John chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Sorry, I tend to ramble when I get nervous...either that or I'm completely silent. Damn, you probably wish this had been my nervous silence."

Ella heard him chuckle again.

"It's ok Ella, Fin...Harold doesn't get a lot of callers other than me."

"I shouldn't have assumed John. Won't happen again."

"Would you mind telling Finch that I have one more thing to do before I'm done here and I'll see him in the morning... And you too Ella."

"Sure I'll tell him." She couldn't keep the smile from creeping up. "See you tomorrow John."

"Oh and Ella..."

"Hmm?"

"Make sure and take the meds Dr. Tillman left for you. We're not starting any kind of training until you're completely well, ok?"

She had to really fight to keep her voice from sounding like a giddy little school girl. "Absolutely...will do. Oh, and John...thanks"

"You're welcome." He replied and ended the call.

She looked down at the phone for another minute still smiling.

"Ella, are you alright?"

Her head whipped up to look over at Harold who had just walked into the hall where she had stopped when she had answered John's call.

"Yeah, I was looking for you. Your phone was ringing and I..." She grimaced. "I answered it. I'm sorry."

His brows raised and then relaxed. "It's alright. So what did John need?"

"How did you...?" She started.

"I don't get many callers other than John." Finch said blandly.

Ella giggled as she handed the phone over.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, John said the exact same thing. He also said to tell you that he had one more thing to do before he's done tonight and then he'll see us tomorrow."

Harold frowned. "Did he say what else he had to do?"

Ella shook her head. "No, he didn't. What's wrong Harold?"

Harold didn't respond but stood there looking pensive. After a second he pivoted motioning for Ella to follow him.

"We have a few minutes before our dinner's ready." He walked back to the room with his computers and sat down; his fingers immediately going to work pulling up different screens and scrolling lines of programs. Harold dialed John's number putting him on speaker.

"I thought you were making Ella dinner, Finch." Was John's greeting.

"It's in the oven Mr. Reese, care to join us?"

Ella's looked over at Harold.

"Maybe, depends on how this goes."

"How what goes, Mr. Reese?"

"Elias is responsible for Carter's CI trying to take her out. Time to end this Finch, once and for all."

"What are you going to do?" John didn't respond. "Reese?" Still no response.

Harold pushes a few keys and one of the monitors flickers then shows a camera angle that is obviously from a camera at the top of a building. Ella sits down in the chair next to Harold watching the screen. She sees a large man smoking a cigarette near the edge of the building. The next thing she sees is a tall man walk into the camera's view. Ella leaned closer.

"There he is Harold." She points to the screen.

They watch as John strides across the rooftop of the building. Ella assumes silently because in the next second John has the large man bent backwards over the side of the building. Ella gasps. She watches the man who's obviously scared shitless as John speaks.

"Body falls from this height, it's messy. Course I don't care about making it look clean, I'm not your pal Elias."

The large man sputters. "I don't know who you are but you're threatenin' a Captain!"

John pulls the Captain's gun from his shoulder holster, cocks it and holds it to the man's chest.

"OK! ok...ok."

Ella couldn't see John's face but the words he spoke was all she needed to know the depth of his conviction when it came to Detective Carter.  
>"Elias can't kill a cop without permission. Run this up the chain of command; permission's been revoked. Tell Elias if he so much as touches Detective Carter again I will put him, you...<em>everyone<em> in the ground. You got that?" John pulled back and was gone again in seconds. The Captain flipped his body over, his stomach propped against the rail now instead of his back.

Ella shivered involuntarily. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to hide or cheer.  
>A forced exhale was all she was able to manage.<p>

"Indeed." Harold murmured.

They sat there in silence for another few moments and then Harold got up and started to limp out of the room again. "I'm going to go finish dinner. I'll come get you when it's ready."

"OK. Thanks Harold."

He nodded as he left the room.

She sat there watching the monitor as the Captain collected himself and walked out of view. The thoughts running rampant in her head were so consuming that she jumped when she heard the voice over the phone's speaker.

"Harold, you still there?"

"Shit." She hissed.

"Ella, are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry, didn't realize you were still there. Harold went to go finish cooking dinner."

"The invitation still open to join you two?"

"Absolutely." She responded quickly; sounding a bit too eager to her own ears.

"I'll be there in about 30 minutes."

"K, see you then."

Ella heard the Ducati start up but she didn't hear the tell-tale beep signaling that the call had been disconnected, plus she could still vaguely hear the hum of the motorcycle's engine. She sat there for a minute more before deciding to say something.

"John?" She asked quietly.

After a second he responded.

"Hmm?"

She smiled to herself. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Not if you don't mind hearing the answer."

She could picture him grinning. "Damn, guess I'll have to change my question then." She laughed...just a forced exhale from her nose. "How long were you with The Company?"

He didn't respond right away which made her nervous that maybe her question might have crossed the line. "I...I'm sorry, you don't have to answer. Hell, you probably can't."

"Ella, how did you know who I used to work for? Did Harold tell you?"

"No, no no." She quickly responded. "He only told me that he chose you to help him…because of certain skills that you have and well, no...he didn't ever go into where you learned them.

He was quiet for another moment before responding.

"How did you know then Ella?"

"Would you believe that it was a good guess?"

"No."

"Didn't think so…" She sighed quietly. "I...I didn't _know..._Maybe I could talk about it with both you and Harold while we have dinner?"

"Ok Ella. I'll see you in ten." Was his short response.

This time Ella heard the beep disconnecting the call. She grimaced, not really looking forward to the conversation she was going to have in a few short minutes. She propped her elbow up on the arm of the chair and rested her face in her hand. Her eyes drifted shut for just a minute before she was woken up by a loud noise at the front of the library. She jumped up from the chair, instinctively searching for something to use as a weapon. There was nothing except for computer monitors, keyboards and...Harold's phone! She picked it up and tried to pull up the last number- John's number, to call him but it was unavailable...so she couldn't use that. Her eyes frantically searched for something else as she heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Still nothing! She dove under the large round table but the only cover it provided was the round pedestalk it sat on. The footsteps were now coming down the hallway that led into the room...

"Ella?"

She released the breath she had been holding in a rush of air. "John...thank God." She moved out from under the table to stare up at a pair of long legs.

"I didn't mean to scare you." He said as he held out his hand to her.

"It's ok, I must have passed out in the chair again." She took his hand and let him help her up. "Sorry I freaked out a little." She grinned sheepishly.

"It's understandable Ella; what you've been through, I'm surprised you're doing as well as you are." Her grin changed to a smile.

"Hello Mr. Reese." Both Ella and John's heads turned to look at Harold who had just walked into the room.

"Joining us for dinner after all?" Harold's eyes drifted down. Both of his brows raised above the rims of his glasses.

John's hand still held Ella's from when he helped her up. They both let go at the same time.

"John helped me up off the floor...I was hiding under the tab..." Her voice cut off.  
>"Never mind." She walked towards him. "Ready to eat?"<p>

Harold nodded and pivoted leaving the two to follow him.

The three sat around a decent sized wooden table very similar to the round table in the main room where Harold's computers were housed. The dinner Harold had prepared was really very good, something that Ella commented on several times while they all were eating. She hadn't eaten this well in quite a while. When they were done John, who really hadn't eaten much at all, reminded her that she was going to finish their conversation from earlier since Harold was here now.

"Well..." She looked over at Harold. "I had asked John earlier how long he had been with The Company." Harold looked surprised at that. Ella continued. "He asked me how I knew that he had worked for them. He thought you might have told me but I assured him that you hadn't." She bit at her lower lip. "When I told you that my ex-husband knew people with connections...one of those people was his uncle. Now - my husband scared me, obviously...but at least I knew what to expect with him, but his uncle..." She shook her head. "This man scared the shit out of me. He was a ruthless, fucked-up, son of a bitch. He used to show up out of the blue and he and Daniel..." She saw John's head lift slightly at her revealing her ex-husband's name. "That was my ex's name, Daniel. Anyway, his uncle would show up and they would go out for hours or sit in Daniel's study and talk. One night when they thought I was asleep I heard them talking. During the conversation, the CIA was named several times...of course he didn't call it that, it was The Company or The Agency. They also talked about some package that he wanted Daniel to help him with. Something about how his assets were off the grid and he didn't trust them to do the job for him. He also kept saying that they were 'behind enemy lines' and I knew...if either one of them ever found out that I had heard the conversation...I wouldn't have lived for very long."

She glanced up at Harold and then turned to John. His face was pale, the look in his eyes was...fear?

"John, I didn't mean to imply that you reminded me of this man...there were just certain ways that he said things, moves that he had taught Daniel...and with what Harold told me about how he chose you...I just put two and two together."

"Ella, what was his uncle's name?"

Harold's eyes were wide looking from John to Ella as he waited for her response as well.

She frowned. "Daniel's uncle?"

"Yes Ella, what was his uncle's name?" John asked again.

"His uncle's name was Mark." 


	9. Chapter 8

A Matter of Trust

Pairings: Reese/OC

Author's Note: Again, I am so sorry for the delay in updating. I've had a lot of time and muse issues lately. I haven't forgotten my story nor would I abandon it.  
>Any feedback or ideas are always much appreciated!<p>

**Thanks to the best Bestie a girl could have! Joaquina you are the best, thank you for your ideas and your feedback :-)

_"Ella, what was his uncle's name?"_

_Harold's eyes were wide looking from John to Ella as he waited for her response as well._

_She frowned. "Daniel's uncle?"_

_"Yes Ella, what was his uncle's name?" John asked again._

_"His uncle's name was Mark."_

Chapter 8

Harold stared at her with a look she couldn't quite read. John's reaction was much more transparent; disgust, pure and simple. She couldn't understand why he was looking at her like that. What the hell had she said? Really, she hadn't meant to offend him in her comparison to Daniel's Uncle.

Her eyes flickered from Harold back to John. "What did I say?" She whispered.

Harold then turned his gaze to John and spoke. "It's too much of a coincidence Mr. Reese. The odds are astronomical against it being him. John didn't respond but continued to look at Ella.

"What do you mean Harold?...who?" She asked Harold.

"John!" Harold raised his normally calm voice to gain John's attention.

He succeeded, but instead of responding to Harold he spoke to Ella. "What was this man's last name?"

"Sheridan. Mark Sheridan."

John's gaze didn't leave Ella as he responded to Harold's unspoken thought. "He wouldn't have used his real name with us Harold."

Then he spoke to Ella again. "Can you describe this man...age, height, weight and when it was that you last saw him. Be as specific as you can Ella."

Ella nodded. "Ok, when I saw him last...it was right before I left Daniel in 2007. He was probably in his early to mid-forties, dark eyes with bushy eyebrows, dark hair but greying and balding slightly. 5'11, medium build. Soft-spoken, although you couldn't help but listen when he spoke. He had a real eerie voice and I'm pretty sure he had a very slight southern drawl. I don't know where he was from originally, Daniel didn't talk about that with me. His eyes though, that's what stands out for me. There were times when he was over for dinner parties and he would look at me." She paused a moment trying to find the correct words to use. "His eyes were dead...not that they lacked expression but it was like there was nothing real behind them...nothing."

Ella sighed when she was finished, her eyes had drifted while she was describing the man to John and now they returned to find him looking down at his hands that were folded on the table. She then glanced over at Harold who was watching John with apprehension.

"John?" She asked quietly. She watched the muscle of his jaw jump. Then he raised his eyes to meet hers. She felt like he was studying her, reading her, searching for something...she just wasn't sure what.

"You have no idea how lucky you were to get out of there...and still be alive, Ella."

Her brows pulled together in a frown. "How...how would you know that? Why are you talking like you know him John?"

"Because I did." He said simply.

Ella's eyes widened in fright. "What do you mean John...you're not saying..."  
>She stood quickly, her legs shoving the chair back making it tumble backwards to the floor. She grabbed the knife from her plate as she turned quickly, running from the room.<p>

John was immediately up and running after her. He heard Finch's voice calling out as he ran down the hall following her. "Ella no, wait!"

John didn't waste his breath by calling her instead he used it to catch up to her. She was surprisingly fast but his longer legs gave him the advantage over her. He followed her down the main hall of the library but instead of turning right towards the entrance of the building she had turned left. He knew exactly when she realized her error. She slowed her pace slightly when she wasn't met by the front entrance but instead by a long hallway lined with doors. That's when he had her. Instead of making the mistake of grabbing her by the shoulder and giving her the opportunity to swing around at him with the knife he grabbed her wrist with one hand and grabbed the opposite shoulder with his other hand.

She immediately screamed; a blood curdling noise that almost made him let go of her but he held fast; pulling her to a stop. His arm that had grabbed her shoulder wound around over her collar bones and he brought her wrist that he held with his other hand up to her chest; essentially trapping her against him so that she couldn't run from him or get enough momentum to throw her head back into his face.

"You're one of his men. I knew it." She hissed. She struggled against him for a minute until he started talking to her his lips right next to her ear. He lowered his voice trying to be as soothing as he could.

"No Ella. You know I'm not." He sighed. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that I knew Daniel's uncle but I am most certainly not one of his men...Daniel's or his uncle's."

Ella's head fell forward. Her body sagged against his arms and the knife fell to the floor; the sound echoing down the halls. He felt her shaking slightly and let go of her wrist. He gently turned her around to face him. Her head was still down and tears were slowly running down her cheeks. He placed his finger under her chin lifting it up towards him.

"Ella. Hey...look at me please."

Her eyes slowly rose to meet his. The deep blue orbs that met his were filled to the brim with more tears. They started falling again as she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright Ella. I've told you that before."

"Yeah John, but how many times can I freak out on you before you throw me out on my ass because you've come to the inevitable conclusion that I'm just not worth the trouble?" Her hands rose to his chest and her fingers grasped onto his t-shirt lightly balling it in her fists.

He watched as more tears overflowed from her eyes and rolled slowly down her face. He fought an overwhelming urge to press his lips to her cheeks and kiss away her tears. The thought alone scared him but he pushed it to the back of his mind to revisit later...much later.

"If we were afraid of a little trouble Ella..." She looked up to see Harold standing a few feet behind John. "...then we certainly wouldn't be doing what we're doing."

Her eyes sank closed and her forehead leaned into his chest just above her hands. She wasn't sure why these two men had come to be such an important aspect of her life in just two very short days nor was she sure that she could stand to lose either one of them. What she _is_ sure of is that she needs to pull herself together and put as much trust in them as they have in her.

"Ella, would you like for Harold to show you to your room so you can lay down...maybe get some sleep tonight so that you're not so tired tomorrow?"

She nodded against his chest before backing away. Harold walked over to her and placed his hand tentatively on her shoulder. "Tomorrow, I'll show you around. That way you can get your bearings so that you feel more comfortable and know how to get in and out if you need to. An exit strategy if you will."

She smiled over at him and placed her hand on top of his for a moment. "Thank you Harold."

He nodded and then gestured for her to follow him as he walked slowly back down the hall.

She turned and John stepped beside her to follow Harold. "Wow, not even _I_ have had the official tour." Ella looked up at him in surprise. "You should feel very special."

"Yeah, real special." She mumbled sarcastically. "I swear I'm not always this unstable. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"It's alright Ella, really. I understand. The fever must have fried your brain. It _was_ pretty high you know. The damage may even be permanent."

She glanced up at him surprised at his response and noticed the smirk playing at his lips. He looked down at her and his smirk rose to a smile which crinkled his eyes making him look almost boyish. Ella's breath caught in her throat. He had the most kind, beautiful smile she'd ever seen. She smiled back at him before tearing her eyes away. She knew if she didn't - she'd really make a fool of herself.

They followed Harold in silence; their echoing footsteps the only sound. Ella watched Harold turn down a hall to their right and turned to follow. John reached out his hand and touched her arm. She stopped and turned to face him. "I'll see you tomorrow Ella. Maybe you can even show me around." Then he grinned at her again.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks again John."

"You're welcome."

She turned to follow Harold, who had stopped to wait for her.

"And don't forget...take your meds." He said before turning and heading out for the evening.

"OK dad." She mumbled as she caught up with Harold.

"I doubt that Mr. Reese's thoughts towards you are in any way fatherly in nature Ella."

Her head remained straight forward, not looking over at Harold. He did look over at her though and noticed the blush creeping slowing up her light skin. He smiled to himself and then began explaining the layout of the library. The building was immense but it wasn't near as daunting after Harold had explained some of the tricks to figuring it out. He promised to meet her at her room at 8 the next morning. He took her by the kitchen where he had made their dinner earlier before showing her where she would be staying. "Would you like some tea before you go to bed? It may help you get to sleep."

"Sure. I doubt it'll help though. I'm pretty wired."

"I think you might be surprised."

She shrugged with a slight smile. "Hey Harold..." She started after a couple of minutes.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you say that...about John, earlier?"

Harold had a feeling he knew what Ella was asking him about but he played like he didn't.

"Which part Ella? I've said quite a bit about John." He turned to look at her. She had lowered her head, a blush creeping up her cheeks again.

"Oh, ya know...about his feelings...not being fatherly."

He continued watching her as he answered her question. "Because I don't believe they are. I was just stating the obvious."

Harold watched as she started nibbling on her bottom lip. "Don't worry about it Ella. All I meant...well, I'm sorry I said anything. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Please forget I said anything at all." He truly hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable and he felt bad that he had.

"OK, but Harold..."

"Hmm?" He looked up from pouring the water into their cups.

"Next time, keep it to yourself." She grinned as he cocked his brow at her in response.

He handed Ella her cup with her tea. It smelled wonderful. She closed her eyes inhaling the fragrant aroma. "What kind of tea is this Harold?"

"It's just a simple Chamomile tea infused with Peppermint."

"It smells wonderful. Thank you."

"You are most welcome. If you're ready, I'll show you the way to your room."

"Sure." She sipped her tea as they started walking. "Oh, it tastes as good as it smells."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Oh, Harold I need to go out tomorrow and get some clothes. I hadn't really planned on going back to the motel where I had been staying; I typivally travel fairly light but I can't do without some changes of clothes, a toothbrush...some essentials."

"I think you may find everything you need in your room Ella."

"How...?"

"I have my ways. But if there's anything at all that you need once you're settled then we can take care of that tomorrow."

They had turned down the third hall to their right and there was only one door on the left. Harold stopped and opened it for Ella. She walked through the door and gasped. "Wow. Harold, I would have never known something like this would be here." It looked almost like a full size loft apartment completely furnished. Harold followed her in and walked over to one of the doors within the room. It was a decent sized closet fully stocked with what looked to be women's clothes already hanging on the bar inside. He then walked over to the other door in the room and opened it revealing a bathroom with a large whirlpool tub tucked into the corner. Ella sighed loudly.

"Harold, I'm sorry but you're going to have to leave now so that I can take full advantage of your generosity in that bathtub."

"Enjoy." He chuckled. "Oh, and Ella..." He walked over to the small counter in the kitchenette and picked up a bottle. "Here are your antibiotics. Please take one tonight and then twice a day until they're gone."

She walked over to him and took the bottle. "Thanks Harold. I really do appreciate all you've done for me." She walked over and wrapped him in a warm hug. It surprised him at first but he wasn't able to resist returning her hug.

"You're welcome. And I'm very glad that you're going to be staying with us Ella." He stepped back and then walked to the door leading back into the hallway. "Have a good evening and I'll see you in the morning."

"You too. Good night Harold."

He walked out and shut the door. She opened the bottle and took out one of the pills. She opened one of the bottled waters sitting on the counter and swallowed the pill. Looking around the room she shook her head not believing her good fortune. She walked over to the closet curious as to what size clothes were hanging there. The tags revealed that every last garment was in her size. How the hell had he done all of this? She opened one of the drawers and found bras and panties and they were in her size as well. Good Lord, who is this guy that he could not only guess what size clothes she wears but also bought and had them delivered all in the same day, just for her?

She grabbed a pair of comfortable looking cotton shorts and a t-shirt to wear to bed and headed to that luscious looking tub. She started the water running, turning it up as hot as she could stand. There was some bath gel that she poured into the stream of water to add a few bubbles. She walked back out to grab her tea off of the counter so she could finish that while she was soaking. She set it down on the edge of the tub and undressed throwing her clothes in the hamper sitting against wall then grabbed a towel off of the shelf above the hamper and set it on the floor next to the tub. She didn't want to wait until the tub was full so she eased herself into the hot water. She leaned back against the tub a little moan of contentment escaping her as she slid lower.

Ella wasn't sure how long she ended up relaxing in the tub but she did know that she felt about a million times better when she got out. The towel she grabbed was huge and she wrapped herself up in it until she was completely dry. She got dressed and headed out to the four-poster queen size bed marveling in how beautiful it was. She pulled down the duvet and sheets and climbed in. She sank down onto the pillows and pulled the sheet up to her chin. She thought it was very possible that she had died and gone to heaven. Whether it was the comfortable bed, the bath, Harold's tea, or all of the above didn't really matter; what did matter was that she was asleep in seconds.

**Seriously? Do I really need to BEG for reviews? :-D


	10. Chapter 9

Pairings: Reese/OC

Author's Note: Again, I am so sorry for the delay in updating. I've had a lot of time issues lately. I haven't forgotten my story nor would I ever abandon it.  
>Any feedback or ideas are always much appreciated! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I read every single one and they always make me feel so good! <p>

**Thanks to my Bestie Joaquina for reading over my stories constantly and providing feedback (and humor) and great ideas! I know you know how much they are needed sometimes Can't wait to see you!**

**Thanks also to my friend ReeseisLAVAhot for your suggestions and hounding for updates! LOL**

**And last but not least, thanks Grand Master Darkstorm for checking in on me. I didn't forget about you either!**

Chapter 9

Ella turned over reaching for the blankets that she had obviously kicked off at some point during the night. Instead of soft material her hand came in contact with something very solid. Her eyes flew open and she immediately had to stifle a scream. Lying next to her wide awake and clearly watching her was John...A completely naked John. She blinked several times trying to come to terms with what she was seeing...in her bed.

"Did I wake you again?" He whispered and then his mouth drew up in a smile.

"What? What do you mean, again? And what are you doing here John?"

"Well, after last night I would think that the answer is pretty obvious my dear." His eyes raked over slowly.

'What the fuck?' She thought. 'My dear?'

"Ok, seriously John. What the hell are you doing here. You left last night. The only person that was here, in my room, was me."

"I'm hurt Ella, that our night together meant so little to you that you don't even remember it."

"Our night toge..." She shook her head. "No, get out John. I don't know what you're on but it's certainly not me. Get out!" She sat up pulling the sheet over her (also very naked) chest.

John leaned towards her, his hand reached out and cupped the back of her neck pulling her down to him. "Come on Ella, let me help you remember."

Before she could pull back, his mouth was on hers. His soft lips consumed hers and she moaned against her will. She knew this wasn't right but as he started deepening the kiss her rational side took a backseat to her overindulgent side. Her hands snaked around his neck as he pulled her down onto her back and then he was rising above her. She knew she should fight it but she was enjoying herself too much. She moaned his name as one of his hands began caressing her breast. Her back arched into him and then his lips were kissing hot trails down her neck. She felt his hand reach down and slide her legs apart and then he was between them. He bit down on her skin gently right where her neck meets her shoulder.

"Oh God, John!" She cried out...and then hewas gone.

Her eyes flew open and she blinked several times. She tried sitting up in the bed...the otherwise empty bed, but she was so tangled in the sheets and blankets that she had to untangle herself first. She was still breathing hard when she had kicked off the remaining blankets and sat up. Ella wasn't sure if she was glad or disappointed in the fact that she was still fully clothed in the shirt and shorts that she had gone to sleep in the night before. She let out a heavy sigh and flopped back down onto her pillow.

"What the hell was that?" She whispered out loud to herself. She swore she could still feel his hands and mouth on her; almost like his touch had burned her skin and was now fading to a light tingling. She glanced over at the clock sitting on the little bedside table. The display read 8:05 AM.

"Shit!" She rolled quickly out of the bed and ran over to the closet. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt then headed into the bathroom. Harold was supposed to be by her room at eight and here she was not even ready. She was dressed and ready in seven minutes and running to the door of her room. She pulled it open almost expecting to find the hallway empty but instead she saw Harold standing there holding two cups. He grinned at her as he offered her one of the cups.

"Good Morning" He announced.

"Good Morning. I'm so sorry I'm late...were you waiting very long for me?" A sheepish smile played at her lips as she reached out and took the cup he held out for her. She sighed, it was coffee and it smelled absolutely divine.

"No...not long." He cocked his head to the side. "Did you sleep alright?"

She thought he was looking at her oddly. It almost made her a little nervous. She wondered if he had been by earlier and heard her dreaming...She hoped to God that she hadn't talked out loud during her sleep.

"Yes, I slept great. Thank you so much. Oh! One second." She turned and walked back inside leaving Harold standing in the hall waiting for her. When she walked back out she explained.

"I almost forgot my pill."

Harold nodded. "Good, I don't want you having a relapse." He turned and started down the hall with Ella stepping in beside him. "I have to apologize but I'm not going to be able to show you around this morning. We had four numbers come in all at once early this morning."

Ella gasped. "Is that normal...for you to get more than one at a time?"

"No, it hasn't happened before...at least not since John has been here. And speaking of John, he's already been and gone this morning." Ella immediately felt herself blushing at the mention of John. She knew she had to control herself. It wasn't real, he hadn't been there, in her room, kissing her...and God knows what else. She had absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. However, the thoughts that she was having about him, remembering the dream and how she responded to him _was _cause for embarrassment if Harold were able to read her mind. She stopped her train of thought as Harold continued. "He's en route to the location of one of the numbers now. We should get down to the NOC room."

Ella looked over at him. "The what?"

"Our NOC room - Network Operations Center. I need to try and find out some more information on our four numbers."

"Well, Let's go then!" She thought she sounded just a little too enthusiastic to her own ears but Harold didn't seem to walked through the halls and Harold began giving her a brief history of the building along with some general information on the layout. He apologized again for not being able to show her around like he had promised but she waved him off as they arrived at the viewing room.

"It's OK Harold. John told me that not even _he_ has been given the tour."

He looked over at Ella as she sat down next to him. "John doesn't stay here so I really didn't see any reason for it.

Ella snickered. "Well, he seems to think that it's because you don't trust him enough."

"Did he say that?" Harold asked cocking his head.

"Mmm, not in so many words but that's the feeling I got, just from what he did say. I told him that it probably wasn't that at all. It was that you were always too busy for something as mundane as a tour. Right?"

Harold didn't respond, instead he started typing, which brought up several camera locations on the different monitors.

"Don't ignore me..._Mr. Finch_." Harold looked over at her with one brow cocked. She watched as one corner of his mouth quivered in his attempt to keep from smiling.

Ella shook her head as they watched John appear on one of the monitors. There were police lined up along the sidewalk in front of an apartment building. Harold explained that the building was where Claire Ryan, one of their four numbers, lives. Ella watched in awe as John walked up to one of the unmarked cars, opened the trunk and emerged with a CSU jacket and what she assumed was a CSI kit. She was even more surprised when one of the officers standing at the crime scene tape lifted it for John, who then proceeded to disappear right into the building like he belonged going in there.

"Does he do that often?" Ella asked as John disappeared from view.

Harold shook his head. "Unfortunately, it's not always that easy."

A couple of minutes later they heard the call ring in from John on the speakers.

"Finch..."

"Mr. Reese?"

"You said the Machine would give us the number in time...it didn't."

Ella looked over at Finch. "Does that happen often?" She asked quietly.

Harold frowned. "Fortunately, no. More often than not, we're there in time." He sighed.

They both watched as John exited the building from the side entrance and walked down to the sidewalk and began talking again. "I'm done at Clair's, Finch. I need you out on the street. You gotta help me get eyes on the remaining three."

"I'm more useful here trying to find connections between them."

"No point in that, if they're all dead." John's answer sounded frustrated, desperate. Ella was sure that was coming from seeing their first number dead.

"Tracking people down is your area of expertise."

Ella sat forward on her chair. "Harold." She whispered. "I can do it."

Harold answered by shaking his head at her as John responded.

"I can't track three people down and I don't want to lose anyone else. I need you out here."

"Harold..." Ella interrupted again.

"I'm on my way." Harold said back to John, ignoring Ella.

"No!" Ella hissed.

"I'll take Wendy." John responded. "I'll put Fusco on Paula. Can you track Matt?"

Ella once again pleaded. "Harold. Let me do it. I track people all the time."

"I can track Matt...on my way."

The call ended and Ella put her hand on Harold's arm.

"No Ella. You're not even a hundred percent well yet. Stay here in case I need you for anything."

"Harold, I'm no computer expert. What could I do for you back here? I'd be more help out there."

"Ella. I promised John when this arrangement was made, remember?…You can't go out into the field until you're well and have had training from him and ultimately, it's his decision when you're ready." His fingers flicked over a few keys. "I've set up the phone speaker system so that you can hear both John and I. Press this button if you need to speak to John…and this one if you need to speak to me. The Machine will also track us both. You can watch in this monitor for me, and you can watch John here. He pointed to each of the monitors for her. Oh, and here's your phone." He handed her a cell phone. "It has my number programmed in speed dial 1 and John is 2."

She shut her eyes in defeat as Harold rose and walked over to put on his coat.

"If Ineed you to look up anything, I'll ring in and walk you through it." He turned and started walking as quickly as he could down the hall to the stairs that led down to the entrance of the building.

"Shit." Ella mumbled. She got up and jogged after him. "Harold."

He stopped and turned looking up at her from halfway down the stairs.

"Be careful." Her brows knit together in worry for the little man whom she liked very much.

Harold smiled. "Thank you Ella. I will be."

He continued down the stairs and out to the street.

She began watching the monitors again as John walked along the side of the building where a minute later he was joined by a heavy-set man. She listened in as John spoke to the Detective and told him to keep an eye on Paula Vasquez. Harold had filled her in on who Detective Fusco was and his role in their operation when he had told her about everything else just a few short days ago. Ella watched as the Detective walked away presumably to find Paula and hopefully keep an eye on her. John then turned and started down the sidewalk to track his number Wendy. Harold was on his way in his town car to track Matt.

Ella felt completely helpless sitting here behind a desk. She had never been happy to just sit, even as a child she was always out doing something. She hated it even more that she wasn't in control of what she could and couldn't do. She had lived for years not having any control and it felt stifling again but she couldn't go against her agreement with John and Harold. If she didn't feel this overwhelming need to be a part of this operation with them, she wouldn't think twice about doing what she wanted and would be out there helping right now.

She took a sip of her now lukewarm coffee and made a face. She got up and headed to the kitchen figuring she had time to grab a fresh cup of coffee and run to the bathroom before there would be any action to watch.

After Ella had run back up to her room, only because she wasn't sure where any of the other bathrooms were, she poured out her old coffee and got some fresh from the carafe on the kitchen counter. It smelled just as wonderful as the first cup but she just hadn't been able to bring herself to drink it cold. She walked back to the NOC room just in time to see John stop at the corner of a building and take cover in the shadows. He watched something intently across the street. She wasn't sure which one of the monitors were showing what John was seeing but at least she could hear him talking to Harold. He said that Wendy was at the salon. She searched the active monitors and found the only one with a salon in view.

She watched as a black motorcycle pulled up to the front of the salon. The rider got off and walked to the front door, she saw John immediately come into view. He was right behind the rider who had just walked in the door. It was hard to see through the glare on the glass at the front of the building but she was able to see John reaching under the back of his jacket and she knew full well what John kept hidden at the small of his back. She still couldn't see what was happening but she released the breath she'd been holding when the rider came walking back out and calmly got back onto his bike and drove off.

She could hear John talking to a woman, who had introduced herself as Wendy. She was asking him about his grey hair? Ella could almost see the woman fawning over John and it made her want to jump through the camera and slap her. John was mumbling about just wanting to make an appointment and Wendy just would not take no for an answer. Ella got it, she knew how attractive he was but really, the woman had just blatantly asked him if he was single...Oh God, he had just said yes...Oh good GOD, Wendy had just announced it to the whole damn place. Now Ella _really did_ want to do some physical harm to this woman. Gee...she thought, maybe Wendy's number came up because of me? Then she laughed at her own little joke. She didn't know where this irrational and insane feeling of jealousy came from. She shook her head as if she could shake the thoughts out of her brain.

She heard Wendy say she would be right back and then John was on the phone with Harold who said that he had followed Matt Duggan to a Ducati dealership. He asked Harold if anyone had followed Matt. Harold said he wasn't sure and that he wasn't very good at this. Ella had to hold herself back from saying her version of 'I told you so'. She heard a beep on the line and John told Harold to keep an eye on Matt and that he'd call him back. John was then talking on the line with Detective Fusco. Ella didn't realize that she was going to be able to hear both sides until she heard Fusco say that Paula had figured out that he had been following her. The next words out of the Detective's mouth was that Paula had lost him and that she may have bought a weapon too. She chuckled humorlessly as John told him not to quit his day job. Ella put her head on her hand. 'Shit', she thought. This could get ugly really quick.

She heard him disconnect the call and ask someone in the shop about Wendy. The woman said Wendy had some kind of emergency but that she was free. 'Ugh', Ella thought. Then John clicked back over to the line with Harold asking him if he had an update on Matt. Harold said that Matt had used cash for a down payment on a brand new Ducati and that he was headed out of the shop now. John told Harold to make sure he kept his eye on Matt because both girls had just given him and Fusco the slip. Ella looked up at the screen that had Harold in view. She quickly scanned the monitor and immediately she noticed the baby stroller with no mother in sight.

"Harold...the stroller by the car. Where's the mother?" Ella said frantically to Harold.

Harold responded back to John. "Hold on, someone left a stroller."

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"There's a baby stroller by the car, I don't know where the mom...Oh, there she is."

Ella pushed back from the table. She knew what it was before the words could leave her mouth. "Harold, it's a bomb. Get away!"

"Oh my God, it's a bomb." He told John.

John told him to get down but Harold yelled that he had to warn Matt.

"Harold, no!" She yelled. She watched helplessly as he limped towards the car. "Stop!" She screamed as a bright light filled the monitor. She saw several things fly through the air, one of them being Harold. Ella prayed that he was ok. The next few seconds were so long as she watched the huge fire burn hoping that Harold was alright. Then she saw him sit up slowly and she let herself breathe again.

She switched over to John's line. He was trying to get Harold to respond. "Finch, are you OK? Harold!"

Ella broke in. "John, I can see him. He seems OK. He's sitting up but, with as close as he was to the explosion, he's probably not able to hear you right now."

John disconnected his call from Harold.

"John?" Ella started but her voice cracked and she stopped.

"I'm on my way. He's only a couple of blocks from here. I'll pick him up and head back to HQ."

She swallowed hard. "OK. See you in a little bit." She exhaled and backed up until her knees hit the chair. She sank into it and then she let her tears fall. She couldn't help herself. She hated it, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop thinking that if she had been there instead of Harold that she would have noticed the woman or the stroller. That made her angry because she didn't want to think any less of Harold, especially since he was hurt but then again, if she had fought a little harder to go out instead of him then maybe he wouldn't be in this situation. It was just a vicious thought cycle. She sobbed loudly letting herself get this out of her system before John got back with Harold because she didn't want either one of them to see her like this.

Ella wasn't sure how long she sat there crying before the cell phone that Harold had left for her, buzzed on the table. She leaned forward and picked it up wiping her eyes so she could see the screen. It was a text message from John. **I have Harold. Almost back to HQ. Five min. ok****?**At first she wasn't sure why he was letting her know but then it dawned on her...she hadn't disconnected the call. John could still hear her. "Shit." She mumbled and then got up. As she was walking back up to her room she received another text. **Don't step in it.** Ella couldn't believe what she had just read. She giggled to herself and then text'd him back. **Thanks. Needed that...IOU.**

Ella walked into her room and headed straight for the bath. It had always been the place for her to relax and regroup. She started the water getting it to the hottest temperature she could stand and then poured in the luscious smelling bath gel she had used last night. She twisted her hair up and secured it with a clip and stepped in. No matter what had been going on in her life, even when she had been with Daniel, she could always sink down into the hot water and she would feel better...at least for a little while...

Ella wasn't sure how long she had been dozing but she felt like it had been hours. The water had gone tepid and she shivered when she sat up and the air hit her wet skin. She stood and grabbed the fluffy white towel hanging next to the tub and quickly dried so she could slip on her robe. She glanced at herself in the mirror as she was heading to the closet to get dressed and had to stop. Her eyes weren't as puffy but her skin looked awfully pale. She didn't typically fuss much with makeup but she was not exactly comfortable letting Harold and especially John see her looking like...this. She looked through the drawers in the bathroom and surprise surprise there were bottles of different brands of liquid makeup, moisturizers, compacts and shadows galore. Sheesh, who did Harold think she was, Tammy Faye?

She applied a few quick dabs of concealer and a tinted moisturizer and went to get dressed. She threw on some jeans and a black v-neck T. She decided to go ahead and take her medicine before heading back down to the NOC room.She remembered to grab her phone and noticed that there was an unread text response. It was the response to her last text to him. She headed down as she pulled up the message. **I might have to collect on that. Later-heading back out. May have found Wendy and Paula. Be good.**

Ella's eyes lit up and she smiled. She read it over several times wondering if he was being serious, then she would roll her eyes at herself for thinking that, then she would read it again and second guess herself, and then she was smiling again. Harold looked up at her as she walked into the room. He didn't look like his normal 'put-together' self but he didn't look disheveled like she was expecting either. She walked over and sat down next to him.

"You OK?" She asked him. Setting her hand on his forearm.

He shrugged. "I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow, well, more so than I am now anyway." He looked over at her. His eyes looked more owlish than usual staring at her behind the thick black frames. "You can say it Ella."

She frowned. "Say what Harold?"

"Oh, I told you so. That would be appropriate, I think." He blinked.

She could feel her chin trembling slightly and she took a deep breath to keep from letting herself start crying again. "No Harold. I won't say that. I may have been thinking it earlier tonight but I won't say it. I will say that I wish it hadn't happened to you and I'm sorry I wasn't watching the monitors closer. Maybe I should have seen it. I knew you weren't used to being out in the field." She took another deep breath and then surprised Harold when she leaned over and hugged him. "I'm sorry Harold. That's something else I'll say."

Ella leaned back into her chair. "So John text'd me and said that he may have found Wendy and Paula?" Harold turned back to face his monitors and nodded.

"Yes, apparently the two girls are foster sisters and they witnessed a car crash with Matt and Claire. The person involved in the crash was a congressman's son who happened to have a million dollars in cash in the car with him along with an exorbitant amount of cocaine. Matt, Clair, Wendy and Paula split up the money between the four of them. The people who the money belonged to have been tracking down the four of them since then. Turns out Wendy and Paula took the money to help out their mother. She's at St. George's hospital, she had a fall and broke her hip. We think that's where they may have gone after someone tried to kill them earlier. John was there when it happened but they took off while he was fighting off their attacker."

"Shit." Ella mumbled.

"Indeed. I was just getting ready to call John."

"OK."

Harold pressed the key to be connected to John and they heard the call beep as they were connected.

"Mr. Reese?"

"I'm at the hospital. Wendy's here. No sign of Paula. What do you have?"

Ella listened as Harold filled John in on where Jamie Hallen had been headed the night of the crash and how he was going to test his theory surrounding Jamie's Haitian Orphan Fund.

Harold got up and looked down at Ella. "I promise, there won't be any bombs on this trip. I'm going to pay a visit to the late Jamie Hallen's father. I shouldn't be gone long at all."

She wasn't sure she felt any better about Harold leaving again but at least this time he was going to visit someone of importance. Not someone that was being hunted by assassins. "OK, call me if you need anything."

He nodded and then headed out again. She looked over at the monitors and found John standing in the hallway of a hospital. He knocked on the glass of one of the rooms and a woman walked out a couple seconds later. So _that_ was Wendy. Ella hit the button to listen to their conversation via John's phone. John asked her about what had happened the night of the crash when they took the money. Wendy explained that they had seen the crash along with Matt and Claire and that they had split the money between the four of them. She knew it was wrong and that they should have called 911 but all they were thinking about was their mom and how the money would fix everything. While she was talking Wendy received a call. When she looked at the display she said it was Paula but when she put it on speaker it was a man's voice saying that he had Paula and that Wendy was to bring the money to the third level of the parking garage, alone, if she wanted her 'friend' to live.

Ella wondered to herself if this day was ever going to end. John waited out in the hall while Wendy got the bag of money from her mother's room. She heard him make a call out while he was waiting.

"I hear you've been taking some heat because of me."

Ah, Ella thought. He must be calling Detective Carter. "Maybe... Maybe you can come in here and help me explain some things."

He chuckled. "No thanks. But I can help you look good in another way."

"Oh yeah?"

"The people who killed Claire Ryan and Matt Duggan. The parking garage, St. George's Hospital."

"When's it goin' down?" She asked.

"I have to go."

"Wait...Thank you. For savin' my life."

"You're welcome." John stood there for a minute and Ella smiled. That, she knew, is why he does what he does.

Wendy walked out and showed John the bag of money and they headed out to the parking garage. When they arrived John took out his CA-415 and set it on the roof of one of the cars and told Wendy to call the kidnappers. He told her that they don't see the money until he sees that Paula's safe. She nodded and made the call. The kidnappers agreed and Ella spotted Paula across the garage in the next line of cars and so did John. He told Wendy to walk towards Paula but if he told her to run, she needed to run.

Ella saw someone walking up behind John. They would see the gun. She hit the button so that John could hear her.  
>"John! There's someone coming up behind you."<p>

He immediately dropped the gun along the side of his body so that it was hidden and turned towards the person.

"You again? Have you lost your car?" The woman asked him, like she had seen him before.

"I'm waiting for someone." He responded.

"OK. Night then." She said as she walked off. Ella watched her and then the woman spun around towards John with a gun. Ella yelled. "John! Behind you!" Then the woman started shooting at him.

John dove to the ground and yelled for Wendy and Paula to run. He shot at the heating vent right above one of the kidnappers who was still holding Paula. It released steam and the man let her go falling to the ground. John yelled for them to run again and they finally did.

"John, she's comin' up on your six." Ella watched as the armed woman walked past where John was hiding between two cars. He rose up so quickly behind her that she barely had time to react before he was disarming her. She tried to head-butt him but he pulled back and then rammed his head into hers. John then spun her around into a car smashing the back window in. He threw her to the ground and then turned to take care of the other kidnapper who was trying to shoot him. He took him down in a quick succession of shots. He got up and walked towards Wendy and Paula who were huddled together behind one of the pylons.

Ella exhaled and put her head down on the desk just as Harold was walking into the room.

"Is everything alright? Is John hurt?"

Ella looked up with a smile, albeit a strained one. "He's fine. Their all taken care of, Wendy and Paula are both fine and I...am beat."

"You should probably go to bed. I have a few things to do before I'm done for the night but you need to go get some rest."

"Well, is John coming back by tonight or was he going...to his place? I was going to stay up for a while if he was going to be here. Just so I... nevermind. I'll be right back."

Harold cocked his head and looked at her in his odd little way as she walked out of the room. In a few keystrokes he had the doll cam pulled up on screen and he was going through Carter's movements in the past few hours. He stopped it when she picked up the phone and was talking to John. It was actually a touching conversation; her thanking him for saving her life. It was probably the nicest thing she'd said to him since...well, ever. He fast-forwarded the feed and then stopped it when the Detective picked up the phone. He listened as she dialed Agent Mark Snow and told him where he could find John.

Harold stood up quickly and immediately tried to call John but his phone was off. He considered trying to find Ella but decided against it and rushed out of the building to his town car. A few minutes later Ella walked back into the NOC Room and found it empty. She called out for Harold but she didn't get a response. She scanned the monitors and saw the screen that was paused showing Detective Carter. She grabbed the mouse and rewound the feed and then watched as the Detective picked up the phone and dialed. Ella froze when the person Carter had called, picked up and announced himself.

"Snow." She barely heard Carter because of the rush of blood she could hear pounding in her ears when she heard that voice.

"Yeah, he just called. I know where he's gonna be."

Ella started screaming at the screen. "What the fuck are you doing! Fucking bitch!" Oh God, she thought. That must be where Harold is. Ella punched in the number to John's phone but he didn't pick up. She tried two more times before giving up and calling Harold's number. He picked up almost immediately.

"Ella, I'm on my way to the hospital. Detective Carter called the CIA and let them know where John's at."

"I know! I just watched the feed you had up," Ella wailed. "What the fuck is she doing! He just fucking saved her stupid life!" She tried desperately to keep herself from breaking down. It wouldn't do anyone any good right now.

"Ella. I'm going to try to keep reaching John. I'll call you back and let you know as soon as I know anything. OK?"

"Yeah. Hurry Harold." The call disconnected. She fought to not lose it completely.

She searched the monitors frantically to try and catch a glimpse of John. At first she didn't see anything but then she watched as one of the monitors blinked and the angle changed. It looked like a view from one of the cameras higher up on the hospital and she watched as a man in a suit, that she immediately recognized as John, walked across the rooftop of the parking garage. It was fairly dark but she knew it was him. He was almost to the far side of the building when the area got much lighter. Then she saw it. The black SUV came into view driving slowly towards John. She punched the key to call John but it didn't connect. She punched the other key so that she could try and at least listen through John's phone, hoping to God that it wasn't shut off. Ella watched as John turned around to face the vehicle. Both front doors opened at the same time. A man stepped out of the driver's side and a woman stepped out of the passenger's side. They both walked towards him and then she heard it again...that voice, and Ella fought the overwhelming urge to vomit.

"Hello John."

"Mark."

"Glad to see you're still alive."

Ella whispered. "Run John." She knew he couldn't hear her but she said it anyway.

"I bet you are."

"I'm surprised to see you ended up in New York City. Thought you'd get yourself a cabin up in the woods. Montana maybe."

"Whadda ya want Mark?"

"It's time to come home John. Slate's been wiped clean."

That was when Ella noticed the man on the roof with the sniper's rifle pointed towards John.

"You know that'll never happen." Were the last words she heard him say. She watched him fall backwards as if someone had pushed him. Two flashes aimed towards the SUV from the gun that John had pulled out as he fell. Then she saw him jerk on the ground and then more flashes towards the vehicle. He was shooting out the headlights! She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched him move towards the door over on the side of the rooftop. There were no more shots fired as John slipped through the door. Thankfully Mark hadn't seen him to be able to follow him.

Ella could hear John's heavy breathing. It sounded like he was making his way down the stairs. She assumed he was going to try to make it to the street. She was just getting ready to call Harold when she heard John speaking again.

"Hey Harold."

"John, I've been trying to call you."

"Yeah, I've been kinda busy" John sounded so tired. It scared Ella.

"Where are you?" Harold asked him.

"In the parking structure. It's not looking good."

"Carter sold you out. They got to her."

"Yeah, they're clever like that. I wanted to say thank you Harold...for giving me a second chance."

"It's not over John. I'm close. Just get to the ground floor."

No! You stay away. Don't even risk it."

It got very quiet for a minute. Ella could barely stand it but she knew Harold wouldn't pick up if she called him right then. She heard a loud metallic noise and car tires screeching. She was hoping that it was Harold's car and not the agents finding John.

The next thing she heard made her blood boil.

"Hold it!" Carter. Ella wanted to kill her. "You?" Shit, she must have recognized Harold.

Damn her! Wasn't it enough she had almost got John killed after he had saved her ass? Then she heard something that she hadn't been expecting.

"Get him outta here. Come on."

Ella's heart stopped. Had Carter just said...to get him out of there?

There was some shuffling sounds and then a rushing sound of air, presumably from John...getting into the car? Then Carter spoke one more word. "Go."

Ella heard the car door slam and then it was quiet again.

AN: This chap was so hard for me to get through. I have tried so hard to get some action scenes into my story but I've spent so much time building Ella's character that I've kind of lost that. I am a HUGE Reese/Carter shipper (which you might know if you've read Control or Shades of Green, but I am thoroughly enjoying setting up this story and having things happen that run parallel with the actual POI epis. I would SO appreciate any reviews likes or dislikes about the story or ideas/things you'd like to see.

I also wanted to give a shout out to some of my favorite authors and stories. If you have some time- check out these fantastic fics and leave lots of reviews please!

Joaquina's POI fics are Exotic Underworld and 2 Broke Girls Meets Person of Interest

Exotic Underworld is a neat case fic and 2 Broke Girls Meets Person of Interest is a cross-over fic that is hilarious

ReeseisLAVAhot has 4 POI fics that are also fantastic (mature) romps with her and her co-author's OC. Teacher's Pet OUR Person of Interest Episode , The Ties That Bind our 2nd Person of Interest Ep , Walking the Thin Red Line our 3rd Person of Inte , Deus Ex Machina our 4th Person of Interest Episo

Some of my other Faves are:

Buns1974

Persnikitty5

TJR05

The others listed in my faves are also all fantastic authors


	11. Chapter 10

AN: So sorry for the delay AND for the shorter chapter! To those of you that are following my story, I so appreciate you all

A special thanks to my friend ReeseIsLAVAHot for reading and catching things that my work-addled brain missed. Another thank you to my friend Joaquina for always being my cheerleader. You girls are the best!

Chp 10

Ella punched the key to call Harold. He picked up almost immediately.

"I've got him Ella! I'm taking him to the county hospital."

"I'll be there as soon as I..." She started.

"NO!" Harold interrupted. "I'm at the hospital but I'm not taking him to the ER. He can't be treated through the proper channels."

"But..."

"Please Ella, stay there. I promise to call you as soon as I can. I'll let you know where you can meet us. I'm here now...I'll call you back."

The call disconnected and all she could do was sit there as her mind rolled through thoughts of John and the types of wounds he could possibly have...how serious they could be...were they serious enough that he might not make it? Then her thoughts turned to Daniel's Uncle. Mark, that horrible, disgusting bastard had trapped John...and shot him. How many lives could one man ruin before he was punished or at least stopped? She made a vow to herself that she would be involved somehow in taking this fucker down. She didn't know how or when, but it would happen. Finally, her mind brought Detective Carter to the forefront of her thoughts and the anger flowed through her in waves. She could feel her skin heating as her blood boiled. She stared at the monitor that had been paused at the pointwhere the Detective had just finished her call with Mark. "Why?" She whispered to the screen. Ella just couldn't understand what would make Carter turn on him after he had saved her life...well, not turn **on **him but turn him in. Her mind wouldn't settle on the rationale behind it and it just served to make her even more angry at the woman.

She looked over at her cell phone and picked it up. She pushed a button so that she could see the display. No new messages, no missed calls. She pulled up her text messages and read through the three that John had sent her earlier. That last one...he had actually been flirting with her. Ella smiled again and then she felt her eyes filling up. She was surprised that she had any tears left after all she had shed earlierover Harold but here they were, threatening to spill again for another man. She certainly didn't think that she would ever be crying over a man...not after what had happened with Daniel. Ella hadn't planned on ever feeling anything, much less crying for any man, ever again. She wasn't hardened enough that she thought every man was a sick and twisted fuck who would trick her into caring for himand then end up beating the shit out of her for years...but then again she didn't want to take the chance either. Yet here she was, trying not to cry... correction, crying over this man that she now cared for.

Ella got up and started pacing as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. She couldn't continue to sit there and wait but she couldn't leave either. Harold had asked her to stay, so she would, but she couldn't just sit. She held onto her cell tightly, looking down at it every few seconds, just willing it to ring. She checked the time every single time she looked at it. It had been a little over an hour but it felt more like ten.

"Please call... Please." He must have heard her because a second later her phone was ringing with Harold's number showing on the display. It didn't make it to the second ring before she had the "answer call" button pushed and the phone pressed to her ear.

"Harold!"

"He's alive Ella." Came Harold's voice through the phone. No, pleasantries...he knew she didn't want or need them...just information, good or bad.

"Oh thank God," she whispered.

"I need you to grab some things and come to the hospital."

"OK, what do you need?"

"There's a large black duffel bag in the room that you pass just before you get to the N.O.C. room."

She ran to the little room just down the hall, looked quickly around and saw the bag tucked back behind a large leather wingback chair. She walked over and picked it up, grunting as she slung it over her shoulder. She wondered what the hell was in it but figured she would find out later. "OK got it. Anything else?"

"No."

"OK, I'll take a cab and be there as quick as I can." She started jogging back through the N.O.C. room to head out.

"No, there's a quicker way. Are you in the NOC room?.

"Yeah." She answered quickly and slid to a stop just before she got to the other side of the room.

"In the bookshelf, behind the monitors, far right, about eye level you'll see a small, black, leather bound book."

She found the book and pulled it off the shelf. "I've got it."

"Open it. The keys to the car are inside."

Ella might have laughed at the absurdity of Harold hiding car keys in a hollowed out book if she had found out about them at a different time. As it were, she shoved the book back on the shelf and started down the hall at a run. "How do I get down to the car Harold?"

"When you get to the bottom of the stairs turn right and follow that hall until you get to the door at the end. That will lead you out into the garage. It's a black Town Car. When you get here, there's a back entrance into the hospital that is strictly used by the M.E.s. Pull up to the double glass doors. I can leave the car that I drove here in the lot and come back for it later."

"OK, I'll be there as quick as I can." She reached the stairs at the end of the hall and practically flew down them. Her speed was partly from wanting to get to them as quickly as possible but another part was pure, unadulterated elation. John was alive, she could breathe again. She reached the door to the garage, slowing only because it was unfamiliar territory. It certainly wasn't a typical garage. It looked more like a mini parking garage, onethat you would see at a really nice office building.

Ella immediately saw the black Town Car and headed straight for it. As focused as she was, she couldn't help but notice the extensive collection of vehicles housed in the rows of parking slots. Funny, she thought, Harold didn't really seem like a "car guy". She pushed the unlock button on the keyless remote for the Lincoln. She wondered how she was going to get the large bay door open to exit the garage. Her question was answered when she slid onto the supple black leather of the driver's seat and pushed the button on what looked like a garage door opener clipped to the visor. The door opened quite quickly for beingas large as it was. Ella slid the key into the ignition, backed the car up quickly and headed out of the garage. She pushed the button before pulling out into the alley on the side of the building, making sure the garage door was shut. Ella didn't think Harold would be too thrilled to return and find his extensive car collection gone because she couldn't take the time to shut the door.

She tore down the street as fast as she could. Thankfully it was very early in the morning and traffic wasn't too heavy. It took her all of fifteen minutes to get to the back entrance where the morgue was located. Ella pulled up to the door where Harold had instructed her to meet them. She shoved the car into park and jumped out of the car. As she was rounding the back fender, she saw Harold walk out the big glass double doors leading out of the morgue. He held it open for a large, foreign looking man who was pushing a wheelchair that held a slumped figure draped with blankets.

Ella froze, her breath catching in her throat. He looked dead. That was her first thought and she wanted to scream. Such an irrational thought though, who would push around a dead body in a wheelchair? ...Someone who didn't want others to know that the man was dead. She couldn't stop the onslaught of images from invading her mind...a grave site, Harold's eyes welling up but still trying to comfort her as best he could. All of this hit her in the few seconds it took for Harold to reach the car and pull the back door open. She watched as the man followed Harold to the car. He engaged the brake on the wheelchair and walked around to the front of it. He placed a large, green duffel bag in the car and slid it across to the middle of the seat. The man then started to lift John's arm around his shoulders so that he could help him into the car when Harold put out his hand, stopping him.

"Just a moment Farouk. Ella, do you want to ride with John or would you prefer to drive?"

Ella's head snapped up to meet Harold's eyes and then she nodded once before running back around to the other side and sliding into the back seat from the opposite side. She grabbed the bag and put it down on the floor so that she could slide to the middle. The man that Harold had called Farouk started to move John again. He put one arm around John's waist and lifted him up while using his other arm to steady John's upper body. Thankfully the man was still mindful of John's left side where Ella knew he had been shot.

John's body was so limp as the man eased him into the car next to her. Ella could barely contain the tears that threatened to overtake her as she took his arm and raised it gently to rest across her shoulders. The quiet little whimper that escaped from him just about did her in because she knew he wasn't the kind of man that allowed himself to show any sign of weakness. He had to be in immense pain so she cradled him against her side by slipping her arm easily between his back and the seat and wrapping her other arm around the front of his chest.

The man, Farouk gave her a half-hearted smile before backing out of the car's door frame and began speaking to Harold. "The supplies are in the bag alongwith antibiotics for possible infection. Call me if he starts to run a fever."

Harold reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you Farouk. I will."

"No, thank you sir."

Harold nodded and then Farouk turned and took the wheelchair back into the morgue. Harold then turned and leaned into the car. "Ready Ella?" She nodded and then glanced over at John's face. He was so pale and there was a light sheen of sweat across his forehead. His eyes were closed and his brow was wrinkled. Harold made to shut the door but Ella stopped him. "Harold..." She pointed at his breast pocket. "Can I have your handkerchief?" He immediately pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. He closed the door and she watched him half jog, half limp around to the driver's side. She lifted the handkerchief to John's face and started dabbing it lightly over his brow and across his cheeks and then over his lips.

John turned his head towards her, leaving it resting against the back of the seat. His eyes barely opened but she could still see the blue between his lashes looking down at her. She saw his mouth twitch just slightly**. **If she didn't know any better she would have thought he was trying to smile at her.

"Oh John..." She started, in a shaky whisper. "I'm so glad you're okay." She felt the tears overflow and slide down her cheek. Before she could turn her head to hide it, John's hand, the onethat had been resting in his lap was tracking the moisture down her face. She smiled at him and then brought her own hand up to his**.** She wrapped her fingers around his and brought it to her lips where she pressed a light kiss and then lowered it back down to his lap. She didn't release the hold on his hand though.

Harold caught pieces of the exchange in the rear view mirror and smiled to himself. He wasn't sure what it was about this woman that he had liked so immediately, maybe it washer spunk, her intelligence, her kindness, her resilience, or just the fact that John seemed to be so taken with her. Whatever it was, he was very thankful that she had been brought into their lives. 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

AN: So sorry for the delay…I really hate making you wait as much as you hate waiting! Been working on this story and a few others too… Oh, and some real life in there too

Thanks once again to my dear friend and AWESOME fellow author ReeseisLAVAhot for always being available to read through my chaps and let me know when I've made a stupid error or offer some really great (and plausible) suggestions! You're the best!

The car stopped and her attention was briefly ripped away from John, sitting next to her, struggling to stay conscious. Her arm that was still wrapped around his back was starting to lose feeling but she hadn't dared move it while the car was still mobile. She didn't want him to slide around and it had been acting as a brace of sorts. She looked out the car window at the building where they had stopped. Red awnings adorned several of the street level windows. She read Athenee printed in gold across the awnings. "Harold. Where are are we? Why aren't we back at the library?" She felt John flinch when she spoke. She must have startled him out of a light unconscious state. "Harold quickly explained that they couldn't go there right now because John wouldn't be able to get up any of the stairs to the rooms because they weren't strong enough to carry him up and there weren't any wheelchair ramps or elevators installed like there were in hotels. He also explained that there were a few hotels where he had some trusted associates that would help them get things they needed without any questions.

"Stay here, Ella. I'll be right back." She nodded in acquies**c**ence as he hurried out of the car.

She watched as Harold entered the front of the building; leaving her to once again turn her attention back to John. She looked up at his pale face, sweat starting to break out across his forehead again. His neck and chest were damp now too. The sweat was starting to run in rivulets down his neck to his chest where they were either caught and absorbed by his white undershirt or found an opening and continued running further down his chest. The doctor... Farouk had obviously removed John's dress shirt at some point in time but had left the undershirt; probably so that he wouldn't have to move John to put it back on him when he was done stitching him up. She dabbed Harold's handkerchief, that he had given her when they'd first got into the car, across his forehead and then down his face and finally to his neck and chest. It was fairly damp now but at least she could keep the sweat from running down into his eyes or soaking his shirt any further. John's head was leaning back against the seat but he turned his head slightly and looked down at her through his thick, black lashes. She wanted to cry at the sheer beauty of it while the rest of his body sat there, torn and broken looking.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there...to help." She whispered.

She watched as his chest rose and fell slowly in what looked like a sigh. His eyes shut slowly and then opened back up, finding hers again. "Don't..." Another deep breath interrupted his reply "...be...do this...all the...time." Her hand rose to dry his quickly dampening skin again. Her eyes flickering over the different areas that she could reach without leaning against his side and causing him to flinch again. "Yeah." She breathed out. Again, his eyes closed but this time they didn't reopen. He couldn't even begin to understand how terribly sorry she was; how could he?

Finch had been gone maybe ten minutes when Ella caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw Harold walking back out to the car followed by a tall black man dressed in a very nice looking suit. They both walked around to the back of the car. She heard some shifting behind her and assumed they were taking something out of the trunk and then they were back on the sidewalk; the tall man pushing a wheelchair up to John's side of the car while Harold came to a stop beside him. Harold opened the door and the man stepped closer and then leaned inside.

"Ma'am." He nodded at Ella in a quick acknowledgement and then reached for John's right arm. She shifted slightly towards John and started to protest this stranger trying to touch him, but the man looked back at her with a kind smile. "I'm just going to help you move him into the wheelchair and get him up to his room." His eyes flickered back to John. "He looks like he could use a nice, comfortable bed." She searched the man's face and then removed her arm slowly from John's chest. She lifted her hand to cradle his cheek. John's eyes had stayed closed until then; he opened them only slightly and met Ella's eyes. "Hey." She whispered. "We're here, but we need to get you into the chair so we can get you inside, OK?" He blinked once, slowly, in response. Ella looked back up at the man and nodded. He reached for John's arm again and lifted it around his shoulders, very much like when Farouk had helped John into the car. The man was very gentle but John still winced as he was pulled up and out of the car. The man had his shoulder under John's arm so that he didn't have to put any weight on his right leg, not that Ella thought he would have been able to anyway.

Harold stood at the back of the wheelchair to steady it but he really wasn't needed. As large as John was, the equally large man from the hotel, had moved him quickly and almost effortlessly into the chair. "Thank you**,** Lewis." She heard Harold say as she grabbed the duffel bag from the floor, slid back across the seat, and exited the car. She closed the door and followed Harold and the man, Lewis, who was now pushing the wheelchair towards the entrance of the building. She glanced up at the name on the dark overhang as they walked in - Hotel Plaza Athenee.

Ella absently rubbed her arm that was still tingling as she glanced around the lobby, which was entirely empty of people other than the superbly dressed man behind the check-in desk. She wasn't really concerned with anything regarding the aesthetics of the hotel at the moment, she was too concerned with John's limp body and how she would catch him if he started to fall out of the wheelchair. They stopped in front of twoelevators and Lewis pressed the call button. The doors slid open almost immediately. They walked in and again Lewis pushed a button**, **this one marked with a P. When they arrived at their floor Lewis wheeled the chair out of the elevator and took a right into the hallway. Ella then stepped out followed by Harold. They walked about half way down the hall towhere Lewis had stopped at a large wooden door. Harold stepped from behind and swiped his key through the card reader and then opened the door for them. They walked into the room and Lewis took John directly through one of the doors to the right that was off of the main...living area? Ella really wasn't sure what to call it, she'd never seen a hotel room large enough that it could double as a house. She took a quick sweeping glance around the room, checking the layout and taking note of the doors leading to other rooms. She turned to glance at Harold, who almost immediately nodded towards the door that Lewis had just wheeled John through and gave her a tight smile.

Ella spun and hurried into the room where Lewis was now turning down the duvet and sheets in preparation for John to be moved from the wheelchair to the bed. She once again glanced around the room, taking in the sheer opulence of the furnishings. Her eyes returned to Lewis who had finished turning down the bed and was now rolling John closer so that he could assist him onto it. He once again bent and lifted John's arm gently over his shoulder and then slid his arm behind John's back and lifted John up. Ella heard John groan and had to hold herself back from going to help. She knew she'd just be in the way because there was no way that she could maneuver John's large body the way Lewis was doing. She still didn't know who he was but she was more than pleased with how gently he was handling John.

Once Lewis had John up and next to the bed, Ella walked over and stood on John's other side so that she could lift his legs up one at a time, onto the bed while Lewis supported John's upper body. After Lewis had him situated on the bed he stepped back and looked down at her. "If you need anything ma'am, you only need to call." He had reached into his breast pocket and was now handing her a business card. "Anytime, day or night."

She took the card and glanced down at John. "Thank you..." When she looked back up, Lewis was gone. She turned back to John and sat down softly onto the edge of the bed. His eyes flickered open but they didn't stay that way. His brow crinkled as he exhaled a slow breath. "You... OK?" He whispered. She almost laughed at what he said but it came out asmore of an exasperated sigh.

"John..." She leaned over and swept his short hair aside off of his forehead. "You've been running around with little-to-no sleep for days, you get shot... twice, you're in a hotel room recuperating from your wounds when you should be in a hospital, where you can receive full time medical care, and you're asking _me _if _I'm _OK?"

His lips twitched ever so slightly and his eyes flickered open again. "You've... been..." He sighed and then inhaled deeply. His face took on a pained expression, his eyes squeezed shut. She knew he was most likely feeling pain from the breath, but he wouldn't make a noise. Ella's hands instinctively reached out to him, even though she knew there wasn't anything that she could do for him. His right arm slid over his stomach and came to rest over where he'd been shot and his left hand came up to wrap around hers. She felt the blood rush to her face and she quickly lowered her eyes to where their hands were touching. He squeezed it slightly and then opened his eyes to look up at her before he attempted to finish what he had been trying to say to her. "You've been...sick...Ella." He blinked slowly before continuing. "You should...probably...be in...bed...resting.

She knew her mouth had dropped open in utter disbelief at the ridiculousness of his statement, but she couldn't seem to control her reaction. For some reason, he must have found the look on her face to be funny because he started chuckling but it stopped almost immediately. His arm shifted around his middle and his hand contracted tightly around hers. Her own hands definitely couldn't be called small but his were quite a bit larger than hers, not to mention extremely strong, and his pain had momentarily caused him to bare down on the only thing he had a hold of at the moment. Unfortunately, that thing happened to be her. She winced, but tried to keep from yanking back or drawing attention to the fact that he was crushing her fingers at the moment. She was aware that he wasn't hurting her on purpose but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. She'd been through much worse pain though, and she could suppress her instinctive urge to bolt.

He took a few quick, shallow, breaths before she felt him ease up on her hand. Her own breath rushed out when she felt the blood start flowing again. She watched as his eyes opened once again and he must have seen something in her expression because he glanced down at his hand on hers and then back up to her face and gasped.

"Oh...Ella..."

"It's fine John."

"No..." He whispered. "No...'s..not...I'm so...sorry."

Ella flexed and moved her fingers but she did not remove her hand from his in hopes that she would assure him that he shouldn't feel bad about a reaction that he hadn't been able to control.

"John..." She brought her other hand to rest on top of his. "It's alright. You didn't know." She gave him a reassuring smile but he closed his eyes tightly and his brow wrinkled into a frown. Instead of continuing to try and convince him, something that would be damn near impossible to do, she decided to go a different route.

"Hey..." She said softly as she grabbed Harold's handkerchief out of her pocket and started drying the sweat from his face again. "Would you like me to get you something for the pain? It would probably be best if you could get some sleep...help you heal quicker. I'll have to go get Harold...He'll know where they are." She started to stand but his hand tightened around hers again, but not so hard that he hurt her this time.

"Just...water...no dr..drugs... ok?"

"But John, you were shot! You've got to have something that will help you relax and sleep. Ifyou're constantly being woken up by the pain you won't get better." She knew he didn't have the strength to argue with her but she also knew she wouldn't be able to force any pain pills down his throat if he didn't want to take them. She watched him close his eyes, hoping that he was resigning himself to listen to what she thought was very good advice. Ella rubbed the, now extremely damp, handkerchief across his forehead before she slid her hand from under his and rose slowly from the bed. "I'll be right back."

She heard him say something when she was half way across the room so she stopped and turned. "Did you say something?"

"You'll...come back?"

She walked back over to him, his eyes were still closed so she reached out and laid her hand on top of his that was resting on the bed. "Yes...I'll be right back."

"Promise?"

She sighed quietly and her eyes started to sting. This incredibly strong, self-sufficient, ex-CIA bad-ass wanted her to stay with him. Whether he wanted her there because he felt like he couldn't protect himself while he was laid up, or because he wanted someone to just simply care for him, was irrelevant, the fact was that he did. Something about him in that moment reached out and grabbed her heart and then wrapped its tendrils around it so tightly that Ella thought she might suffocate.

"Yes John." She whispered. "I promise."

She stood there for another minute, her hand still resting on his before she finally turned and walked swiftly out of the room to find Harold.

She walked out of John's room and across the large front room to the door where Harold had indicated that he would be. When she walked in, she immediately noted the lack of computer equipment. She had been expecting a grand setup, like back at the library or at least something similar, but it was just one laptop and what looked like a large motherboard sitting in one of those indestructible-looking suitcases. There were several wires snaking out from the briefcase that led to the laptop. Harold was furiously typing away on his laptop keyboard. He looked up after she had been standing in the doorway taking in the equipment for a few seconds.

"How is John doing? Does he need anything yet?" Ella could see the concern etched across the older man's face. He did care for John, she just wished that John could see it and that Harold would admit it.

"He's in pain but he said he doesn't want any pain pills. I tried convincing him that they would help but I'm not sure I was able to convince him...hard head. Then he actually told me that _I_ should be in bed!"

"Well..." Harold cocked a brow over his thick rimmed glasses. "He's probably right about that."

Ella's brows shot up in disbelief but she chose to ignore the comment. "OK, so do we have any pain meds for him? Because if not, then it's a moot point anyway."

"Yes. Farouk was able to procure some Vicodin and antibiotics. I put them in the bag with the..._other_ supplies." He rose from the chair and they turned together and walked back out of what she had quickly deemed the makeshift "computer room" until they were back at the library.

When they reached John's room, Harold walked over to the black duffel bag, sittingwhere Ella had dropped it when she'd first walked in. Funny, she hadn't even remembered carrying it up. She saw John flinch as the slide of the zipper ripped through the silence of the room.

Ella started to walk over to him but had a thought and quickly rushed to the door at the far side of the room, assuming it had to be the bathroom. She found a couple plush washrags and ran one under some cold water then squeezed out all the excess**. **She walked back over to the bed and sat down gently next to John. He sighed softlyandhis forehead once again crinkled into a frown of pain. Harold walked over and set three bottles of pills and a bottle of water on the nightstand. "Here's the medicine for his pain and this is an anti-inflammatory in case you can't get him to listen to reason regarding the pain pills. And here's the penicillin for any infection."

"OK, thanks Harold." Ella had started running the damp rag over John's face and then down around his neck.

Harold keenly watched the way Ella tended to John as if ...as if she... Harold knew what it was like to care for and to be cared for and he missed that feeling immensely. If that was something that John could experience, especially with someone who he was able to work with and not a civilian that he would have to constantly worry about, Harold would do anything in his power to help that happen for John."Ella, I'll be in the other room if you need anything at all. I would say that your room is through the other door in the bathroom but I have a feeling you won't be utilizing it." She glanced up at him; he had an unreadable expression on his face.

She lowered her eyes and felt the blood rush in a torrent from her chest, up her neck, and then finally under the light skin of her cheeks. Ella hated that about herself; her blushing was one thing she'd never been able to control. She could typically control her emotions from others but not the sudden onslaught of blood that seemed to flow to any exposed skin, especially her face, and always at the most inopportune times! She busied herself with running the dry washcloth over John's face, drying the dampness there from the wet one that she had just used, so that her face was hidden from Harold's all too knowing eyes.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and once again looked back up at Harold. "Thank you Ella." His eyes were still studying hers intently. "I didn't mean to imply... I just assumed you would want to take first watch, just in case John needs anything."

Ella nodded and placed her hand on top of Harold's. "Of course I'll stay...and no, you're right...I don't need the room, I'm staying here with John. You get some sleep Harold."

He squeezed her shoulder lightly before he stepped back. She watched him as he slowly left the room, closing the door behind him and she wondered again about what had happened to him and she allowed her thoughts to wander. She wasn't sure how long she'd been staring at the door but she turned back to John to find him watching her through hooded eyes. Ella was thankful that the closed door had cut out the majority of the light in the room because she could feel the blood rushing to her face again. God, she hoped that he hadn't been awake to hear the conversation between her and Harold.

John started to speak but every other word was broken up by his need to take a breath. "You don't...need to...stay up...for me."

"Of course I do." She immediately responded. "Don't be silly. In case you'd forgotten, you were shot. I'm not leaving you alone."

"No, Ella...you've been...sick. You need...to rest." His forehead wrinkled again, obviously from another wave of pain.

"No, _you _need to rest." She argued. "...and speaking of which, are you ready for some pain meds?"

"No..."

"John, why not? If it's because you're worried about them finding us..." Her voice broke on the last word before she was able to pull herself together. "As careful as Harold is, I'm sure he's taken every precaution in making sure that we weren't followed here...besides, even if they did find us... I wouldn't let them anywhere near you." His eyes widened slightly for just a second before she continued. "Please John...take the pill. Please. Trust me." Her hand reached out and came to rest on top of his. He slowly turned his hand over so that their palms were pressed together. Ella squeezed his hand gently. He closed his eyes in a slow blink and nodded once.

"One condition...You...need sleep...Ella." He unwrapped his arm and patted the bed next to him. Ella opened her mouth to respond but was cut off. "Stay... sleep... and I'll...take...the pills."

Several thoughts crossed her mind while several more responses to his little deal never came to fruition. She resigned herself to the fact that she probably wouldn't win...she couldn't force him, and she was actually feeling pretty tired. Finally, she nodded once; accepting his terms. She wrapped the wet washcloth inside the dry one and set it down on the table.

She opened the bottles and took out a pain pill and one of the antibiotics and placed them in his left hand. He dropped both pills into his mouth and then Ella handed him the bottle of water. He lifted his head a bit and groaned at the pain it caused.

"Do you need some help?" She absolutely hated asking him. She didn't want him to feel any more weak or helpless than she knew he already did.

He shook his head in response as he maneuvered the bottle to his lips and drank. He had half the bottle drunk before she reached over and set her hand on his arm. "Easy... not too fast. It might make you sick." John slowly lowered the bottle, his eyes locking onto hers. "What?" She asked.

"Thank you." Was all he replied, as he handed her the bottle.

"Of course." She smiled in response as she set the water back on the bedside table within reach for him. She sat there for another minute or two until he spoke again.

"Your...turn." His eyes flickered to his right.

"I can wait until you fall asl..." She was once again cut off.

"Ella."

"Yes, hard head?" She cocked her head to the side.

His only response was a quick exhale...the only response he was capable of. Ella got up and shook her head as she walked around to the other side, slipped off her shoes and socks, and crawled gently onto the bed so as not to jostle him. She settled down onto her left side, facing him. His head turned towards her and he slid his arm slowly towards her. She reached out and took his hand in hers and watched as his eyes slowly drifted closed...Ella's closed not but a few seconds later as they both drifted off into the sweet oblivion of sleep.


	13. Chapter 12

AN: I am so sorry for the delay in posting! I've been working on a couple of my other fics (including one I am co-authoring with ReeseisLAVAhot on), been dealing with a car accident, and then most recently I was in NYC with some friends and got to meet the MAN, Jim Caviezel!

Thanks again to my girl ReeseisLAVAhot for going over this puppy for me!

Chapter 12

Ella woke slowly from a dream that had taken hold and hadn't let go of her all night...however long that had been. She didn't know what time she had finally fallen asleep, but she did know that it felt like she hadn't been asleep for more than five minutes. She shook off the remnants of the dream as she opened her eyes to find her body wrapped around…an arm? Her eyes travelled up to find it belonged to John, and it was still lying between them. She remembered him reaching out to her last night, and taking his hand in hers. She did not, however, remember at what point she'd started using said arm as a body pillow. Her arms were cradling his upper arm, with one hand under his shoulder, while her other hand was splayed out over his collarbone. His hand was in a bit more of a precarious position; it was resting right between her thighs. She could feel her face getting hot as she tried to move slowly away so that she wouldn't wake him. She didn't want to make it even more embarrassing for herself than it already was. Her plan didn't work out too well though because as soon as she started to move her leg from on top of his hand, he began to stir.

Ella watched as he woke slowly and then his eyes suddenly shot wide open. Theystarted moving wildly over the room before she reached for his hand that was lying over his stomach, and squeezed it gently, but firmly in hers. She remembered how she had felt when she'd woken up for the first time after her fever startedto break back at the library. She knew that John, waking up after being on pain medicine, and having been through what he had, he would probably be wondering where he was and what was going on. He'd flinched when she'd first touched him but she calmly took it in stride and waited for him to come around.

His breathing was fast and irregular and his nostrils flared open with each shallow inhale. Coupled with his widened eyes and the distrustful look he wore, he reminded her of a horse that had been spooked and then caught as it tried to shy away. His eyes rolled but then Ella saw something click in them and he turned from suspiciously searching the room to looking up at her a bit more calmly. His breathing slowed and his eyes closed for a moment, only to reluctantly open again.

He looked into her eyes and whispered, "Did you...get some sleep?"

Ella sighed and wondered if the man ever thought about himself. He'd been shot..._twice_ for God's sake, yet here he was waking up and asking her if _she _had gotten some sleep. She decided not to harass him about it...not until he was feeling better anyway. Ella smiled warmly over at him. "I did, thank you. How 'bout you?"

"Better than you, I think." His eyes flickered down to where his arm was still resting between her legs. She grimaced and thensmiled up at him sheepishly.

"I'm so sorry John." She went to remove her leg from from on top of his hand and then started to slide her other one out from under his hand but his fingers gripped her leg to keep it from moving.

"Don't be. You were..." He took a breath before continuing. "...thrashing around...pretty hard. You...must've had a...pretty bad nightmare."

"Oh no..." She whispered. "Ooh I didn't hurt you did I?" Her eyes started scanning over his body to make sure that she hadn't dislodged his leg brace or that he wasn't lying at an odd angle that might put extra pressure on the wound in his side. She should have known better than to have fallen asleep there. She could have hurt him! "God, I'm so..."

"Ella..." He whispered. He brought up his other arm towards her, his fingers just able to brush against her cheek. She reached up and took his hand and moved it back to his chest and laid her hand on it; she could tell by the look on his face that it had caused him pain to stretch it across his body. "No... you didn't. Might have... woke me... a couple times..." He smiled a slightly painful looking smile. "But after you...requisitioned my arm... you went back to sleep."

"Oh, I woke you up...John, I'm so..."

"Stop apologizing Ella...there's no reason...that you have...to be sorry."

She laid her head back down on the pillow, her eyes searching his body again for anything that looked amiss, other than the obvious gunshot wounds.

"Do you need anything John? Anything at all?"

"Maybe some water. That would be nice." Her eyes found the water bottle she had set down on the bedside table last night. John's eyes followed hers and then he reached out with his free arm to pick it up. She sat up and slid her leg from under his arm and scooted up closer to his head and sat on her knees so that she could lift his head up to make it easier for him to drink. He grunted as he tried to shift his body up.

"No John, don't move!" Her hands flew to his chest and gently pressed down to stop his movements..

He exhaled and closed his eyes. "Ella...I'll be OK."

"Yeah, you look it."

He opened his eyes and looked up at the smirk on her face and couldn't stop his own from creeping up. "Sorry." She mumbled as she leaned down and slipped her arm underneath his neck and lifted up while resting her arm on top of her knees for support. John raised the bottle to his lips and took two large gulps before she reached out to his hand holding the water bottle. "Not too much at one time. You don't know how your body's going to react yet."

John looked up and saw the concern in Ella's eyes. "You're right." He whispered and took another, smaller sip from the bottle. When he was finished he set the bottle back on the nightstand and Ella gently laid his head back down onto the pillow.

"Ya know, you might be a little more comfortable if I put another pillow under your head. Rather than lying flat out and having your skin pulled, it might feel better to sit up just a little...unless you'd rather just go back to sleep. That's probably better for you anyway. I should just go. You don't need me in here waking you up with my tossing and turning. I really don't want to accidentally hurt you any more than I alre... I mean, well, I don't want to hurt you. I'll go..." She started to pull back from him to get off the bed but his hand reached out and wrapped around hers. He listened quietly to her ramble on, something he'd come to realize that shedid when she was nervous. He just wasn't sure what it was that had made her so nervous.

The look on his face was guarded. "Ella...you didn't hurt me." She looked like she was going to argue, but instead she responded with a quick answer aimed at placating him so that he'd let her go.

"Sure John, but I could have. I'd rather not take that chance. I'll...I'll go get Harold."

She made to move again but his fingers contracted around her hand. "Wait, Harold... can't help me...uh..." He winced and looked away from her.

She inhaled and opened her mouth to answer him immediately but then stopped before starting again. "What...what do you mean? Why not?"

He closed his eyes again tightly and tilted his chin to the side. She thought, at that moment, he looked more uncomfortable than she'd ever seen him.

"I mean, he... can't help me... by himself and I don't..."

She laid her hand gently on top of his, the one that was wrapped securely around hers. "John, what's the matter? I'll help you with anything you need." She squeezed his hand to emphasize her point. "What do you need...tell me?"

He sighed...as heavily as he could without it pulling at the wound on his side. "It's not really...something you can...help with...Ella. I need...to use...the bathroom." Comprehension dawned on her face as it once again flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh...right. I'm sorry. I can call Lewis to come up and..."

"Who?" John's head snapped over to look at her, his eyes widening with what she would swear was fear; something she didn't think him capable of feeling.

"The man that helped you yesterday...he brought you up here with me and Harold, then he helped you into bed. You don't remember?"

John shook his head and Ella blanched. That's when she knew how bad off he'd been when they'd arrived at the hotel yesterday. Her fear had been completely justified and she hadn't been overreacting when she'd been so protective of him around Lewis, even though she should have known that Harold wouldn't do anything that would put John in harm's way. Still, she had felt that overwhelming sense of protection and it confused her immensely. The only other man she'd ever cared about besides Daniel, before she found out who he really was, was her father and she had never really experienced the need to feel protective of either one of them. Her feelings for Daniel had turned out to be nothing but the product of a brilliant seduction cloaking a smokescreen of deceit and cruel betrayal. Her fantasy had always been like every other little girl's fantasy, that of being taken off by a prince, riding a white horse where they would live happily ever after. Well that little fantasy had come crashing down around her after the second time Daniel had beaten her and no one had come to her rescue. If only there had been someone like John when she was still with Daniel. She shoved that thought aside since there was nothing that she could do about any of it now. She had been able to get out...she'd revisit her thoughts about her ex-husband at another time.

"I believe that Harold hired him personally...at least that was the impression that I got. I don't really think that he would go to all the trouble of getting us here, just to allow someone that he didn't know, to endanger us."

John's eyes turned up to meet hers. "You're right...do you think...he'd be available...to help?"

She smiled at him warmly. "I have his card. He told me to call at any time if we needed anything. I'll go let Harold know you're awake too, OK?"

He nodded and squeezed her hand once more before releasing it. Ella turned and slid off the tall bed. She walked around the foot of the bed and over to the bedside table and picked up Lewis's card and then headed towards the door. She turned her head to find John's eyes following her across the room. "I'll be right back." She said before pulling the knob down and walking out to find Harold.

Ella walked across the living area to the computer room where she assumed Harold would be. She'd been right...she just hadn't expected to see him with his head laying on the desk and passed out. She would take care of him shortly but in the meantime she would have to contact Lewis herself and she would help him if he needed it. She knew she wasn't as physically strong as a man, but she was sure that she could help a little more than Harold could.

She walked back out of the room and found a phone where she could call Lewis. When she spoke to him she explained the situation and he assured her that he would be right up.

When Lewis arrived he was pushing a cart with several items. The most noticeable itemwas a small shower chair. She was surprised by it because she hadn't even thought about John not being able to stand long enough to take a shower and she wasn't sure how sanitary a bath would be. Another item she recognized was one of those pillows with a back and short arms...a pillow chair of sorts. She also saw a bolster, which was just a large cylinder shaped pillow that massage therapists place under the knees of clients to take the strain off of laying on their backs. She also thought that was a good idea for John to use because it would help to keep his skin from being pulled too tightly from lying flat.

She followed Lewis to John's room but stopped at the doorway.

"Uh Lewis, do you think you'll need my help with...anything?"

He looked back over at her and smiled warmly. "Thank you, but no. I can handle this today. Tomorrow perhaps, depending on how Mr. Smith is feeling, I may ask for your assistance."

Ella almost corrected him with John's name but then she realized that Harold must have given Lewis a fake name.

"OK."

She looked over at John with a questioning look, just to make sure he was comfortable with her leaving him with Lewis. His eyes shut and he lowered his head in a nod.

"Thank you Lewis. Call if you need anything. I'll be with Harold."

"My pleasure." She closed the door almost all the way and headed back to the computer room.

Ella walked back into the room to find Harold still there, asleep in the chair. She didn't know how long he'd been there and she was reticent to wake him but she also knew all too well how uncomfortable it could be to sleep sitting in a chair. She'd done that so many times, more times than she wanted to think about, while she had been on the run from Daniel. She made the decision to wake him up and at least get him to go lay down in one of the bedrooms. She walked over and gently laid her hand on Harold's shoulder as she spoke quietly so as not to startle him.

"Harold...Harold..." When he didn't respond after the second time she'd said his name she shook him a little and raised her voice slightly.

"Harold..."

He jumped and Ella immediately felt sorry for waking him but she figured he'd be happier and more comfortable in the long run.

"Hmm?" He groaned.

"Hey, you fell asleep in your chair. Why don't you go lay down on one of the beds so you won't be so sore when you get up."

He took off his glasses and rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to rub away some of the remnants of sleep.

"No...I need to get up anyway. Thank you for waking me, Ella."

As he sat up straighter his breath hitched and his face twisted in pain. She reached out to help him but he shook his head. "I'll be alright. It's my own fault for dozing off."

"Now don't be a hardhead 'John'. Let me help you."

He twisted his upper body to look up at her. At first she thought that he was upset with her but then one of his brows shot up and a one-sided grin slowly appeared. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She returned his smile and promptly moved to stand behind him. The chair had a low enough back on it that she would be able to reach over it fairly easily.

"Actually Harold, I want you to stay where you're at for just a few minutes. I'm going to try something that may help ease your neck pain just a little."

"What? No...that's ok Ella, you don't have to do..."

She gently placed both hands on top of his shoulders and pressed down gently but firmly. He had removed his jacket, vest, and tie at some time during the night and had left on his white undershirt. "Harold...I realize I don't have to, but I would like to; if you'll allow me." She watched him relax, at least from getting up for the moment. "And don't worry, believe it or not, it's the one thing that Daniel did for me that ever amounted to anything."

"What was that?"

"He had one of the best massage therapists in the country come into our home and train me in several different modalities of massage therapy."

"That seems quite odd...that he would want to have you do that. Unless it was for his own personal benefit."

"Oh it was...I'll tell you all about it, but first I want you to fold your arms across your chest and grab your shoulders, then put your arms on the desk and lay your head on them so that you're looking straight down at the desk."

Harold pushed his keyboard to the backside of the desk and did as Ella instructed.He'dshed his coat, vest, and dress shirt at some time during the night which left him in a white undershirt. She smoothed it down and then placed her hands on each side of his neck and swept down and then outwards across his shoulders and out to his upper arms. She did this several times before she placed her hands lightly on either side of his neck and then ran her fingers upwards over his scalp. She increased the pressure slightly and allowed her fingers to start moving over his scalp, increasing and decreasing the pressure as she moved around. She saw Harold's shoulders drop and heard his quiet sigh as she moved back down to his neck and slowly started kneading his neck and upper shoulders.

Ella heard him moan quietly and she knew that it was helping. She felt so many muscle spasms all through his neck and shoulders. He'd told her about his accident...well, the results of the accident anyway. He still hadn't told her about the actual accident or how it had happened, but she knew that he had fused vertebrae in his neck. She also knew how painful it could be without constant physical therapy to keep his muscles and tendons from losing elasticity and movability. She couldn't help wishing that she'd known him after it had happened so that she could have helped him from the very start. He might not be in the shape that he was now. As his shoulders dropped further she started to tell him about why Daniel had forced her to learn massage therapy to suit his own, and his uncle's needs. They wanted to keep their bodies in top shape for...whatever they were doing and that was one of the things that they required. Ella was fairly certain that it had been his Uncle's idea because she got the feeling that Daniel didn't want anyone around her. He'd been right to not want anyone around her because it was her instructor who had been one of the most helpful people that had eventually helped her to escape him.

By the time she was done telling him her story he had relaxed even more onto his arms. She continued kneading along his shoulders and around his neck for a few more minutes before she stroked her hands down his back lightly and then stepped back.

"Oh Ella, thank you." He mumbled as he slowly pushed up off of the desk. He rolled his shoulders slowly and he rose gingerly from the chair. "Oh...I haven't even asked how John's doing!"

Ella reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder. "He's ok Harold. I had to call Lewis to help him get up..."

"To what?!"

"Relax Harold...he needed to use the restroom and neither you nor I could carry him or even help him get in there. Besides, do you really think I'd let him do something stupid that might hurt him even more?"

Harold winced. "You're right, of course. I'm sorry. I'm just so used to it just being John and me, and...well, John sometimes likes to push the envelope."

"Really? John...push the envelope?...no!"

Harold's brow cocked. "Your sarcasm does not go unappreciated, Ella."

She smiled. "Thanks...Now why don't you go lay down? I know you couldn't have had much sleep in that chair. I'll be up for a while, I'm sure. Plus I want to make sure John gets settled back in before Lewis leaves."

"I'm not sure that's a good..."

"Idea? Harold, who's going to run all of..." She waved her hands at the computer on the desk. "...this, if you keep burnin' your candle at both ends?"

She thought it quite amusing that he was studying her just as intently as she was studying him. She continued. "And Harold, it's _not_ just the two of you. You have some help now...you can count on me to do whatever you need. I haven't had the ability to stay in one place for a really long time; thanks to you and John, I'm able to stay in one place and not feel like I have to watch my back every second.. I'll do anything for you...anything at all that you need ."

Harold stared at Ella with a look she couldn't quite read. His eyes squinted and his head cocked to the side. He finally smiled and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "You're such a good person Ella. I really am so glad we found each other."

"Me too, Harold. More than you'll ever know."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I'm so sorry, once again for the long wait in updating! RL and a certain (angsty) fic has been taking over my time...  
>I hope to have the next chap up much quicker than I have been posting!<br>Please let me know what you think...this was my first fic...EVER and I still have quite a ways for it to go.  
>Thanks to ReeseisLAVAhot for always looking through my fics with eagle eyes ;-) <p>

Chapter 13

Ella's head bobbed as she tried to keep sleep from claiming her. After she'd worked on Harold earlier to try and ease some of his pain, she had told him to try and get some rest. She knew he'd been up all night, and nodding off for an hour or two, didn't count as rest. She didn't know how much sleep she'd had either, but at least she'd been in bed...with John. The fact that her own so-called sleep had been plagued with nightmares most of the night didn't even cross her mind when she was wondering why she was so damn tired.

After John had been helped to the bathroom, she had helped Louis get him back onto the bed. It hadn't taken him long to drift back into a restless sleep. He'd refused to take another pill, which she fought him on at first, but ultimately gave up, rather than spending energy on fighting him about it because she knew he wouldn't give in again. He'd asked her to stay with him while he 'slept'. At first, she had outright refused, using the excuse that she might keep him up, or God forbid she might hurt him if she started thrashing around in her sleep. She hadn't won that argument either. She'd mumbled as she crawled up onto the bed, but she was secretly glad he'd talked her into it. It really was a nice bed and she really was tired from lack of sleep, and her muscles were screaming at her from being so tense for days. She constantly felt like crying, which was definitely an indication that she was tired and in pain.

She sighed, looking over at John, who seemed to finally be resting, at least semi-quietly for the moment. Her eyes slid closed but then her body convulsed, startling her awake if only for a few short seconds. This happened several times, but each time her eyes stayed closed a little longer. Unconsciously, she settled down further into her pillow, falling into a deep sleep, and didn't wake again for several hours.

It must have been the comfort of knowing that John was at least partially out of the woods, and the fact that he was so close because when she woke up, she was once again snuggled up around his arm. The difference in the first time and this time was that John was awake already and smiling down at her when she opened her eyes.

"Good morning." He glanced over at the clock. "Yeah, still morning...but barely."

His eyes were at half mast as he looked down at her but he didn't look nearly as tired as he had yesterday. She smiled and blushed. "Sorry...again..."

"For what?" Even his voice sounded better now.

"For commandeering your arm so rudely again."

"If I minded, do you think you'd still have it?"

"Well...I...um..." She stuttered and looked down so that she wasn't meeting those steely grey orbs that seemed to have a knack for making her feel...things...things she wasn't used to feeling. Normally they were a beautiful and unique shade of blue, but in dim light, or in the evening they darkened along with the sky.

She changed the topic quickly, to something she was much more comfortable talking about "Well...you _sound_ like you're feeling a bit better."

His mouth quirked up in a quickly flashed half smile. "I don't feel...so much like I'm dyin' today."

"Yes, I'd definitely say that's an improvement." She grinned up at him.

Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him slowly reach over with his free hand and then he ran his fingers down her cheek. He did it with much more ease than when he'd reached out to her yesterday, but he was also closer to her today. "Thank you, Ella," he whispered.

She could barely think, much less speak, as the soft skin of his hand touched her. She nodded, barely a movement at all because she didn't want him to take his hand away. They la**y** there for several minutes, neither one moving away, both studying the other's face. His fingers continued to lightly trail over her skin until his eyes were once again starting to close. When they closed and didn't reopen, she reached up and gently wrapped her fingers around his. She moved his hand, letting it brush her lips and laid it on his chest, but didn't remove her hand. Her thumb started running softly over his knuckles.

"No...Thank _you_ John, for giving me something to care about," she whispered.

After a few minutes she let go of him and slid gently out of the bed. She walked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her. She never heard his soft reply of, "You're welcome."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella walked out and found Harold at his computer. He looked up at her and smiled. "Good morning."

"Morning. How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thanks to you. Your hands worked some magic, that's for sure."

"Oh that great! I'm glad I could help, at least a little."

"Not just a little, quite a lot actually. Maybe I should've hired you as a personal massage therapist...if only I had known, I would've had that put in the contract."

"There's a contract?" Ella asked.

"Oh yes, it's quite extensive. You might want to have an attorney look it over before you sign." He said this with a straight face, but it didn't last long. The side of his mouth pulled up in a grin.

Ella gave him a mock annoyed look but ended up giggling. "Very funny Finch."

Harold raised his generously arched brows at her. "You know, you reminded me very much of John, just then."

"Really?"

"Mm hmmm. And speaking of...how is he this morning?"

"He actually seems to be doing better. He was awake before me."

Harold blinked at her, lending to his owlish persona for just a moment. It didn't go unnoticed by Ella, but she continued on.

"He didn't seem to have as much difficulty breathing, or talking. His movement wasn't as painful either."

"What kind of movement?"

The question seemed innocent enough but Ella knew better. She could've slapped herself for being so obtuse. Of course he would catch something like that.

"Reaching." She answered, simply.

"Oh? Where was he reaching?"

She sighed and closed her eyes. "It wasn't any big deal."

Harold reached out to her, but let his hand fall back down. "Ella, it's OK, I don't need to know." He quickly changed the subject after seeing how uncomfortable it was making her. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Oh yes, I'd love some!" Her answer was quick, and a little higher pitched than she'd meant for it to be. "...But I'd really like to take a shower and wash my hair before we go anywhere."

"Of course. I took the liberty of having some clothes brought up for you...since we didn't have time to grab any before we left."

"Harold...you think of everything, don't you?"

His eyes glassed over for just a second then he shook his head and he was focused on her again. "Not everything...but I'll be here when you get out."

"Thanks!" She ran to 'her' room. The same room that she hadn't used since they'd been here.

********************************  
>Harold rose slowly from his chair, but nowhere near as slow as yesterday. Ella followed him towards the door but stopped short when he opened it to leave. He read the look on her face without having to ask her what she was waiting for. "It's all right. We aren't going any further than the little cafe on the roof. It's only down at the end of the hall." Harold stepped out into the hallway and motioned for her to join him.<p>

"But, what about John. It may not be safe..."

"I've taken precautions. There is no one else staying on this floor, the elevators are set to bypass our floor, and the guards would take care of anyone that would try to enter by any other means."

Ella knew she had to have a stunned look, because she was...completely. "Wait...There's no one else on the whole floor_? There are Guards here...for us?_"

Harold chuckled. "Yes. As you can see, we are quite safe to venture out...if only for coffee and a scone."

"But what if he wakes up and needs us?"

"I will take care of anything Mr. Smith needs, Miss." Louis stepped into sight from around the doorframe.

She smiled warmly at the tall black man. "Oh, Hi Louis. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here."

"I only just now arrived Miss."

"Please call me..." Her eyes flickered quickly over to Harold who gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head. "...Emma. Call me Emma."

"Thank you, Emma."

She looked back over at Harold again. "OK, ready."

Harold nodded and she walked out into the hall with him.

Ella was surprised by the grand affair that was the "little cafe" at the end of the hall. It looked like a place where a couple could go for an intimate dinner on a special occasion. "Wow, this is an awfully nice 'cafe' Harold."

"It actually serves as a restaurant in the evenings as well. They started the Cafe about a month ago at the owner's suggestion."

She smiled at finding out that her assessment had been so accurate. "It really is beautiful."

"Thank you." He smiled and walked over to a table by one of the many windows lining the outside corner of the room. He sat down in an over sized leather chair. There was a table and an identical chair sitting across from him. Ella tilted her head in confusion and then followed him to the table.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"Your compliment."

"You're the...designer?"

He nodded. "And the owner."

"Pardon?"

"But you said...the owner suggested it...I thought you meant the owner of the hotel."

He nodded again. "I did."

"You own the entire hotel?" Her eyes widened. "I knew you had money, I didn't realize you were...wow."

Harold chuckled and then smiled up at the waiter who approached their table to take their order.  
>They both placed their order and sat back to get comfortable while they waited for their drinks and scones. They talked for quite a whilecovering topics including anything from the weather, to his treatments after his last surgery when the doctor had fused his vertebrae."<p>

"Harold, why won't you tell me _how_ you got hurt?"

He studied her quietly before lowering his eyes. "There's only one other person that knows what happened to me, and he's dead...at least to the rest of the world."

She gasped. "You mean there's someone out there that knows you well enough to know what happened?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yes." He closed his eyes for a moment and then turned to look out over the city. "He was there...that day. His face took on a sad, forlorn look. "He had to run, leave everyone and everything that he loved behind..just like I did."

Ella was so stunned, she couldn't speak, so Harold continued on.

"We made the decision that we would 'die' so that those who were after us would have no reason to continue to hunt us...or those we loved. We severed all contact with our loved ones, staged our fake funerals, and then severed contact with each other."

Ella watched the tears gather in his large blue eyes and she nearly started weeping at the sight if it. She took a deep breath and reached out, laying her hand on top of his. "You had a family?"

He nodded. "Brothers..."

"Were you married?" She shuddered at the thought that he would've had to leave a wife, or God forbid, children behind.

He shook his head. "No...but I had a fiance. And Na... My friend had a son."

"Oh Harold, I'm so sorry to hear that." She squeezed his hand that she was still holding.

He stared out the windows for several more moments then looked over at Ella. "I think it's time to check in on John."

Ella glanced at the time, and blanched at how late it had gotten. "Oh, yeah. I didn't realize we'd been here so long." It was nearly three. They'd sat and talked for over three hours. She jumped up and nearly left Harold behind, but she put herself in check and allowed him to set the pace back to their suite. As soon as they reached the room, it was a different story though. She rushed across the foyer, nearly missing Louis sitting on the couch. She came to a halt and quickly asked him how John was doing. He told her that he had been sitting up, ate a small breakfast and that he went back to sleep a couple of hours ago. She breathed a sigh and quietly opened the door to John's room. It was almost completely dark. The sky was dark from rain clouds, and the only illumination was from tiny bits of dull light sneaking through the curtains.

She walked over to the bed and looked down at his sleeping form. She couldn't keep from noticing how peacefulhe looked when he was sleeping. His eyelashes were one of his most interesting and attractive features when he was awake but they were just as interesting when he was asleep. She remembered noticing them when they were in the car after he'd been stitched up and in such a great deal of pain. She wasn't sure why, at a time like that, she'd made such an observation, but she had. They were so lovely, but now, being asleep and relaxed, they looked even longer, and the way they lay across and contrasted with his skin, was absolutely breathtaking.

She wasn't sure how long she'd stood there staring at him or how long she'd continued staring before she noticed that those heavenly lashes were no longer hugging his skin and that his eyes were now open and staring intently back at her. The intensity of his stare startled her out of her trance.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" She whispered.

The almost imperceptible movement of his head was the only indication of his response. The dark look in his eyes awakened something inside of her, something she was unfamiliar with and didn't even know existed.

"Do you..." Her voice broke. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat before beginning again. "Do you need anything? Louis is right out..." She stopped mid-sentence when he shook his head again.

"Do you _want _ anything?" This time he nodded his head in the affirmative. "OK, just tell me what it is and I'll get it for you."

He said something so quietly that she didn't hear him. She went to lean down so he didn't have to strain. "What did you say?" Suddenly his hand rose towards her, much quicker than she would've expected, and came to rest on the back of her neck. She froze. She couldn't move and she couldn't breathe.

John felt her go rigid and saw her eyes widen and he immediately dropped his hand. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I shouldn't have grabbed you...like that."

She sucked air into her lungs and immediately felt horrible for her reaction. "No, no I'm sorry. I..." She closed her eyes briefly and when she opened them back up she reached down and placed her hand over his. "I trust you John. I haven't been able to say that about a man in...well, in a very long time. Not since my father was killed... I just, I don't quite know how to react to..." He could tell she was having a hard time explaining what he already knew so he kept quiet and let her find her footing. "It's just, the last time a man touched me, at least in that capacity, he almost beat me to death.

John's heart sped up, his breathing became erratic, and he saw red. Just at the mention of that animal putting his hands on her...hurting her, made him want to hunt the bastard down and... He had to stop. She had already been frightened enough. If she saw him like that, she would never come near him again. He tried to inhale deeply, but his breath caught in his throat **and** the searing pain tore through his side. The only physical indication that he was in pain was a quick flickering of his brow, but she caught it.

Her persona quickly changed back to that of the caregiver as she reached out and laid her hand on top of his. "Are you all right? What happened?"

He attempted a smile but he thought it probably looked more like a grimace when her look of worry changed to disbelief. "I'm sorry." He whispered through short, uneven breaths. "Just don't...don't leave. I'm...sorry I scared you...I won't...touch you again."

Ella stood there for what felt like several minutes just studying his face. "I won't leave you." She whispered in response to the first part of his plea. She wasn't sure how to tell him that she didn't want him to _stop _touching her though. She hadn't wanted to be touched by anyone before, not like this. It was such unfamiliar territory and she was at a complete and utter loss. She looked over at her hand lying on top of his. She ran her thumb gently across his finger. His eyes flickered up to hers but she was still watching their hands. Eventually, she stopped and dropped her hand back to her side. Her eyes were still looking down as she backed up, walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled gently onto it. She sat down next to him, her eyes still not meeting his, then she reached out and took his hand in hers.

The boldness of the contact surprised him, but her words surprised him even more.

"I...I'm not sure how to say this...to tell you...I don't want...I just..."

He wasn't sure how he was going to get up and leave when she told him that she didn't want him like that, that she was sorry, but she couldn't. He turned his head to look up at the ceiling, he didn't want her to see his reaction. Maybe he would just tell her to leave since he couldn't...

"Idon't want you to stop."

Her voice was so quiet. Damn Louis for talking him into taking that pain pill! It was fucking with his head...he would've sworn that she'd just said that she didn't want him to stop. She took his right hand in hers and pulled it up to her face. She placed her cheek in his palm and pressed her hand over his so that every inch of his hand was touching her skin. She slowly moved his hand down the side of her face. He turned his head slowly and watched her slide his fingers across her cheek. When he was close to her mouth he moved his thumb so that it would swipe over her lower lip. Her eyes slipped shut as her lips parted. She sighed and he felt the rush of air fall over his fingers. Without opening her eyes she moved his hand to the other side of her face and moved it down that cheek. He once again let his thumb glide over her soft lips. Then she pressed the back of his hand firmly against her cheek. "Ella." He breathed out.

"Your hands are so soft." Her next words were so quiet that he almost didn't hear her. "Daniel's were...not."

He took a chance and moved his hand a little so that he was controlling the movement rather than her. She dropped her hands from his and slid it down to wrap around his wrist. Her eyes stayed shut while her head hung down. John opened his hand up so that his palm was cupping her cheek again. She tilted her head, pressing it more firmly against his hand. Her eyes flickered open and met his gaze. His thumb drifted across her cheekbone.

"My face was the one place he never touched, until that last time..." Her voice was so quiet and it was trembling. "I don't know if it was because he knew it was the one spot he couldn't hide the bruisesor if he just didn't like it enough to expend his efforts there."

He watched as a tear rolled down her cheek and felt the warm droplet when it reached his skin. His eyes squeezed shut and he ground his teeth together hoping that she wouldn't see the anger there. He inhaled deeply as he opened them back up and met her eyes.

"I'll never hurt you." His voice was quiet but firm.

Her eyes were fixed on him as she dropped her hand from his wrist. It was her show of trust in him, as she responded. "I know." And she did, with every fiber of her being, she knew he would never hurt her.

She reveled in the feeling of his hand on her for a moment longer, then she took his right hand in hers and lay down next to him. She threaded her fingers through his and wondered at the circumstances that had brought her here, to this man and his boss. She never thought she would trust a man again, yet here she was entrusting her _life to not one, but two_. She could barely remember a time when she had been this comfortable; it had been with her parents, before that monster had sunk his claws into her. They'd been her rock, her world, and since they'd been gone she'd felt like a drifter looking for a home. She sighed, a contented sigh of relief. She no longer felt like that drifter, she'd found her home. John's soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I'll never let _him_ hurt you again either. I _will _kill him. I think you have a right to know that..."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head against the pillow. "No John...I don't want you to do that. Please. The man is evil...don't bring yourself down to his level...Please."

"Ella...You'll never have to worry about looking over your shoulder again. There will be no chance that he'll ever do this to another woman. He doesn't deserve to live."

"Maybe not...but...if you do that...if you kill him, I'll always see that when I look at you. Please don't misunderstand, I want him dead, and he will be... but not by your hand. Please. Promise me that."

John didn't want to promise that, he wasn't sure that he could...not after what had happened to Jessica. He couldn't think about that now...He couldn't allow the rage to take over again. He also couldn't do anything to break that trust that Ella now had in him. He had an idea...it had worked before, he could make it work again...

"OK. I promise you, I won't...kill him."

"Thank you." Her smile didn't reach her eyes but he saw her body relax somewhat. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, actually Louis strong-armed me into taking a pain pill."

Ella actually smiled at that. "Strong-armed huh? Somehow I don't see anyone strong-arming you Mr. Reese." He grinned. "I guess that means you were feelin' some pain?"

"Maybe a little."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't keep saying that. There's nothing for you to be sorry about Ella."

She sighed. "You don't understand John. I was _there_ at HQ when that _Detective Carter_..." She spat the name out. "...sold you out to Mark!...Snow, I think was the name she called him...**.**Maybe I could've done something, found some way to warn you...I don't know, but..." Her voice broke and she closed her eyes so he wouldn't see the tears that were already burning her eyes and threatening to fall.

He pulled his hand from hers and slid it into the space between the bed and her neck. He put the slightest bit of pressure to pull her towards him. At first he wasn't sure she'd come to him, but then she shifted her body and in the next second, was curled up next to him. Her left arm was laying up against his side, her right was laying on the far right side of his chest and her head was tucked into the crook of his arm. The rest of her warm body was laying across her side of the bed so that she wasn't anywhere near his injured right leg. He would have killed to not be injured at this moment. He wanted to pull her into _both_ arms and not be hindered by his side or leg. At least he was able to comfort her at the moment though, which was obviously what she needed right now.

"Ella, there was nothing, _nothing_ you could have done. If you had shown up, Mark...he would have killed you. You know he would have. Or at least taken you back to Daniel."

She turned her head to bury her face against the side of his chest and her fingers curled into a fist around his shirt. She moved her face from his side after several minutes and relaxed her fingers. "I'm not a shrinking violet anymore John. I could have done something. I would have fought him, killed him."

"No." He said, with more force than he'd intended. "You must understand. The man you know as Daniel's uncle is far more ruthless and much better trained than you know." He took a deep breath; it pulled but it didn't take his breath away like it had before. "Please don't ever try and take him on Ella...Promise me. Please." He'd turned the tables on her, asking for her to promise something that it would be very difficult for her not to do, but he knew Mark Snow. He probably knew the man far better than anyone else on the planet, or at least he'd thought he had. He knew that she knew the man too, but in a different capacity.

"OK... I promise... At least until I get that one on one training you promised me."

"Not even then." He ran his right hand over the back of her head, smoothing down her long red hair. He heard her sigh and knew he'd won, but he also had the feeling that he hadn't heard the last of the argument. He would just have to keep her as far away from Mark as possible, no matter what he had to do. He continued stroking her hair, loving the feel of the silky strands gliding across his palm. Her fingers were contracting and relaxing around his shirt creating a wonderfully relaxing, and at the same time, tantalizing sensation over the skin of his chest. He fought the increasingly intense effects of the damn pain pill that was threatening to steal his consciousness because he didn't want to miss out on one second of reveling in her touch.

Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last that much longer. Her fingers stopped moving and he felt her chest push against his side as her breathing became heavy and even. She was asleep now, so he no longer fought a losing battle against the drug. She murmured a sweet little sound, her breath warm and soft against his chest. He let his heavy eyes close and he sank into the sweet oblivion of sleep with his arm wrapped securely around her. 


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:**

**Hi all, It's me, Maddsgirl75.**

**Sorry for the repost.**

**I wanted to let everyone know that I needed to change my pen name for personal reasons. **

**Any stories you were following before you'll need to refollow if you still like them :-)**

**Hopefully I'll get to update them soon :-)**

**Chp 14**

For the third time now, Ella woke up next to John, only this time she wasn't curled around his arm, his arm was curled around her. Her left arm was laying between them and her right arm was sprawled comfortably across his chest. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and groaned softly; she'd only been asleep for about four hours.

She turned her head to look up at John. He was once again awake and looking down at her. She smiled at him and then looked down his side to make sure she hadn't pushed herself against his bad leg. Thankfully, her legs were still laying at an angle, away from his.

She didn't want to move yet. It felt good to have her arm laying on his warm body and his arm holding her to him. She stretched carefully so she wouldn't give him the impression that she wanted him to relinquish his hold on her. He didn't remove his arm, instead his fingers started moving slowly over the exposed skin of her side where her shirt had slid up when she'd stretched.

She looked up at him again, his eyes meeting and holding hers while his fingers continued their sweeping movements. She felt that unfamiliar pull, a feeling that was as foreign to her as the man who was making her feel it. She swallowed hard, attempting to wet her suddenly dry throat. She watched as his intense stare changed; his eyes crinkled and his mouth turned up in a warm smile.

"Good morning." The incredibly soft voice with the sexy edge made its first appearance of the day.

She wasn't sure how she felt about the way it made her feel other than the fact that she certainly didn't _dislike_ it. Her throat was still dry when she returned his greeting, making her own 'good morning' sound like she had a severe case of laryngitis. His fingers slowly ran up her arm making her shiver. When he reached her hair, his fingers started threading through it and then sliding out at the ends, then it returned to do it again.

"Your hair's so soft." His barely audible whisper was like silk sliding over her bare skin. His fingers continued their slow and deliberate movements even as he asked, "do you want me to stop?"

John was totally oblivious to the inner turmoil going on inside of her. The woman in her wanted nothing more than to have him continue touching her, but the frightened girl who had been beaten so many times, by the only man she'd ever been involved with, felt the overwhelming urge to shy away and run as fast as she could.

Ella knew unequivocally that John would never hurt her; he would lay down his life for her. On the flip side, she also hadn't known him very long, and that scared her. She had known Daniel for much longer before he'd began hurting her.

She'd read, and heard so many stories firsthand about women that continued to unconsciously seek out abusive lovers and that was only one reason why she had never been involved with another man since. They called it 'breaking the cycle'. John was a definite break in the cycle...not that one man was a "cycle", but before now she had never even been willing to take that chance...

The woman in her ended up winning the battle. She wasn't going anywhere. She'd found not one, but two people that she could trust. It had been too long since she'd had that. There was no way in hell that she was going to give it up...not without one hell of a fight.

"Ella?" His voice had snapped her out of her inner musings. His fingers had stopped moving, but they were still entwined in her hair.

She smiled once more at him, and then laid her head down in his chest. "No, I don't want you to stop." She whispered .

She heard a contented sigh from him and she started moving her fingers lightly over his chest again. His fingers started running through her hair again and she shivered, feeling the goosebumps raise along her skin. Just as her eyes were sinking closed in total relaxation, she heard a soft knock. She thought fleetingly about scooting away from him quickly, but then she decided against it.

"Come in." She said quietly.

The door opened and Louis walked in. "I'm sorry to disturb you, do either of you need anything before I leave for a few hours?"

She looked up at John, his eyes met hers. He nodded once and then looked up at Louis. "If you would, I could use your help again."

"Absolutely sir." Louis nodded and walked over to the wheelchair.

Ella got up slowly, trying to make the contact with John last as long as she could. She laid her hand on his before she moved to leave the room. "I'll go ahead and leave." She let go and started to slide off of the bed, but his hand reached for hers. She paused with her legs hanging over the edge. His fingers slid through hers, fitting with them perfectly.

"Will you come back?"

She smiled as she looked back at him. "Of course I'll be back."

Ella walked out of his room and shut the door, leaning back against it and shutting her eyes. She couldn't believe what was going on with her and John. Not that they had 'done' anything, but so much had happened in the course of a few days. She hadn't slept, even though it had just been sleeping, with a man in years.

"Ella?" Harold's soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

Her eyes opened and met Harold's brilliantly blue ones.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh...yes. Thank you. I was just...thinking."

He nodded once. "Anything you need to talk about?"

"I just..."

Harold sighed. "You care for him." It was a statement, not a question. Ella's eyes widened.

She nodded, not sure she had the breath to speak her affirmation.

"It was only a matter of time I suppose. John is quite..." Harold's voice fell off for a moment before he continued. "Would you like to have a drink with me before you go back? I'm assuming that Louis is helping John use the facilities?"

"Sure. I'd love a drink. And yes, Louis is helping John at the moment."

Ella would do anything to have Harold talk more about John. She wanted to learn all she could about this strange and wonderful man.


	16. Chapter 16

Chp 15

"I never expected to see John show any true affection towards anyone." He opened a dark cherry wood cabinet, removed two wine glasses, and set them on top of it. There was a beautiful dark blue, glass decanter filled with dark red wine. As Harold poured it into each glass, he continued talking. "It was a rather big surprise. Not that I'm an expert on him by any means, but..." His voice trailed off. He handed her a glass and took a sip from his own glass.

"But what?"

"But just in the short time that you've been with us, I've seen how he acts around you, how he reacts to you." He paused and took a deep breath. "I believe that he cares for you...in a way I didn't know he was capable of anymore."

"Anymore?" She was starting to feel like a parrot incapable of doing anything more than repeating the last word he spoke.

Harold took another sip of wine and turned his blue eyes on her. She felt him studying her...analyzing.

"Ella, there are some things I can't tell you. Not because I don't think you should know them, but because it's not my place. What I can tell you is that it seems you are quickly becoming very important to John."

Now rather than repeating, she'd become mute. Ella had expected him to tell her more about John, not about how _she _was important. She didn't really want to know what Harold thought about her...not that she didn't appreciate it, she just...wanted to know more details about _John. _Ella took a large gulp of her wine. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked back at Harold. The look on his face told her that he wasn't going to go much further into depth but she had to get the question out.

"What happened...to her?"

Harold looked rather uncomfortable. "Her?"

Now _he_ was the one repeating...

"The way you were talking...it just sounded like there had been...someone that he cared about before."

"As I said, there are some things that John will need to tell you. Please understand..."

"I do. I told you things about my past and you waited for me to tell John. I know John would have never told me anything about what you both do without OK'ing it with you first. I was just...wanting...well, more."

"Yes, I understand. I'll tell you what I can."

Ella took a deep breath. Resigning herself to being content with what she knew was right.

"Would you like to go out to the balcony; we can sit and chat out there. It's turned out to be a nice evening...from what I gathered from Louis."

Ella nodded. "Sure, I'd like that." Harold picked up the decanter and she followed him out. He topped off their glasses and they both sat down on the plush outdoor sofa.

They sat and chatted for a while. Their main topic being what Harold felt comfortable discussing about John. It wasn't long before the wine had them being a bit more loose lipped then either one of them normally would be. Instead of taking advantage Ella asked Harold if he was, or had ever been, in love. He gladly told her the story of how he'd met his Grace.

The way his demeanor instantly changed when he spoke of her was so beautiful. It had Ella smiling at how Harold's face lit up when he said Grace's name and how his eyes sparkled when he talked about her. It was something foreign to her. Daniel had never looked the way Harold did right now when he looked at her. Sure, he'd acted the part quite well at the beginning. Obviously, because he was able to draw her in...make her think that he was in love with her so that Ella would fall for him. It had worked. Frighteningly so...

Ella wasn't sure how long they'd been there when Louis came out and announced that he was leaving for the evening. Harold got up and walked him to the door. Ella followed them in, but set her wine glass down and headed straight for John's room. She turned, looking over her shoulder at Harold. He met her gaze,smiled, then nodded his head once. Returning his nod, she turned and walked quietly through the door.

The room was dark; not even the moon was shining through the curtains this evening. A thin sliver of light coming from the bathroom helped her see so that she wasn't stumbling across the room. She closed the door to the room and headed quietly to the bathroom. After she shut off the light she moved back across the room to the bed. She thought she had remembered exactly where the bed was but her toe coming roughly in contact with the foot of the frame proved otherwise. Whether it was the wine or the lack of light didn't really matter; it hurt like a son of a bitch.

Ella couldn't contain the curse, however quiet, from leaving her. One hand landed on the end of the bed and she brought her foot up to her other hand. She rubbed her throbbing toes and very nearly jumped out of her skin when a soft voice interrupted suddenly.

"Are you alright?"

"Shit!" She quickly lowered her voice, sorry that she'd snapped at him. "Damn. I'm sorry John. Yeah, I should be fine. My mom warned me about moving furniture with my toes."

The warm chuckle she heard brought the butterflies back to life in her stomach.

"Come on up. Let me take a look; make sure they're not broken."

Ella hung her head for a minute, knowing that her face was probably flaming red, and extremely glad that it was dark so that he couldn't see it. She breathed heavily and climbed gingerly up onto the bed. As she crawled over to him she heard the snick of the lamp milliseconds before the warm light lit up the area around them. She barely contained the groan. Just what she needed; her utter and complete embarrassment at stubbing her toe like an idiot being brought to light, literally and figuratively.

She looked over at John. He had his hand held out for her. She sat a couple feet away and placed her heel into his waiting hand. He set it down next to him and gently ran his hand from her heel up to her toes; applying just enough pressure so that it wouldn't tickle but not enough that it might hurt. When he reached her toes he palpated each one. They hurt, especially the second and third ones, but John was able to bend each one without it being excruciating. Her foot flinched once and he looked up at her, searching her face for any indication that he should stop, but she just nodded and looked back down at his hand.

Ella watched as those long, elegant fingers continued moving over foot. His touch had changed. Instead of the concerned examination, his hand was now moving in a slow caress from her toes, down over the top of her foot, around her ankle and back up the bottom. Ella's eyes slipped closed thoroughly enjoying the feel of his skin against hers. After several minutes she slowly pulled her foot back.

"Thanks." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He looked up at her with such deep blue eyes. One eye shadowed by his stunning, aqualine nose. She didn't think she'd ever seen anyone look so incredibly sexy in her entire life.

"Feeling better?"

Ella nodded. "How..." She stopped when her voice broke and cleared her throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." His mouth barely moved, but her eyes were captivated by it. She swallowed hard.

"I'm glad."

John's hand reached out slowly to her. She knew it was not for her foot this time. There was so much being said with that one little gesture. It scared and thrilled her in equal measure. It only took seconds, although it felt like hours, for the thrill to override the fear so that she could move. Ella shifted and crawled across the small area separating them coming to rest right in front of the pillow she'd been sleeping on... her pillow. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth.. Slowly she reached out and settled her hand in his, wrapping her fingers around his.

"Ella..." Her name sounded like a whispered song being sung by him.

She knew he was waiting for her. He wouldn't move before she gave him consent. It was so easy yet so difficult to make that one little movement. Just a few inches. A distance that seemed to be lessening with each second that ticked by until she realized that there was barely an inch between them. Ella reached out with her other hand and stroked the side of his face. The stubble scratched lightly against her fingertips. She wondered briefly what it would feel like against her skin on other parts of her body. Only seconds later, she realized that she didn't want to wonder anymore. She closed the remaining distance and tentatively touched her mouth to his.

Ella heard herself whimper. When John slowly moved his lips against hers, taking her lower lip between his, it felt like her insides were on fire. The molten heat started at her mouth and ran straight down the very center of her and pooled between her legs.

The fingers of her one hand remained on his cheek as she slipped her other hand out of his and brought it up to mirror the other. As soon as she let go, his hand slowly raised up gently touching her face.

It had been so long since she'd allowed anyone to touch her, especially like this. Instantly she was greedy for more. She wanted...no, needed more of him. Scooting closer, she slid her hands around to the back of his head and laid her arms against his chest and shoulders.

John's arm slid around from her face to her back, pulling her closer to him. Her chest was almost flush against his now. She settled into him as he continued kissing her softly. She wanted both of his arms around her...now. It only took a moment for her to remember why they weren't.

Ella pulled back slowly so as not to jerk his arm from her. John caught her glancing down at his other side and gently increased the pressure on her back.

"I'm fine. I even took a pain pill while you were gone."

"But...I don't want..."

He closed the distance between them and captured her lips in a sweet, slow kiss. When he pulled back he smiled at her. "But **I** want to." He kissed her cheek. "And please don't worry. I really do feel much better."

"Oh John..." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, pressing her lips to his ear. "You are in no condition to do much of anything more than what we're already doing. You're feeling good because you've got some pills dulling the pain. I'd rather wait until you're...fully healed. OK?"

He turned his head and took her earlobe between his lips. Ella gasped as the heat flared inside her. More than anything she wished that he wasn't injured so badly. His lips released her and moved slowly down her neck. They were incredibly soft against her skin and he was being so gentle with her. Just as he reached the bottom of her neck she thought he was going to pull back, but instead she felt a slight sting. As soon as she realized his teeth had scraped against her skin, he'd moved to a different spot. This time, she felt his tongue slide across her skin and was unable to stop the open-mouthed moan.

Ella felt him chuckle against her skin, his breath warm against her shoulder. This time he did pull back. His blue eyes met hers. The little lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. She didn't think that he'd smiled like that since she'd met him. Sure, he'd smiled, but not like this. Her fingers reached out unbidden and ran lightly over those little wrinkles. The man literally took her breath away. She still couldn't believe that she could feel this way. Not after the hell she'd been put through for years. There was just something about him...something that made her feel...safe, protected...cherished.

She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his in what started out as a very chaste kiss but soon turned into a full on assault of his mouth. Ella poured everything she had into that kiss. Trying desperately to convey so many things; her attraction to him, the passion she felt, but most of all her gratitude for allowing her to feel something other than pain.

When Ella gently pulled away both of their chests were heaving. John's eyes were hooded and his pupils dilated, a look she was sure that she shared. She inhaled deeply, pressed her forehead to his and exhaled two words.

"Thank you."

The two words she expected to hear in return were never said. Instead, he uttered three little words...


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: This one is actually a new chapter (not a repost). I hope you all like it!  
>Thanks Wolfmusic218 for reading over this one for me :-)<strong>

Chp 16

"No, thank you."

Ella couldn't help but smile at three seemingly benign little words that meant so much to her.

She shifted so that she was leaning against his side, tucked under his arm with her face pressed to his chest. Her left arm curled against his ribs and her other roamed over his chest. The solid warmth was both a comfort and a turn-on for her. More than any other time in her life, she wanted to remove the t-shirt and press her body to his. The mere thought of doing so had her face warming and her breath catching in her throat.

Of course John, being the super observant person that he was, noticed the change in her immediately.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." Her voice sounded a bit more pinched than she would've liked, but at least she kept it from breaking.

His fingers that had been idly moving over her back, running trails up and down her spine, paused. They moved up to her head and gently swept the hair away from her face. When they started threading through the thick strands and sliding slowly down, she couldn't stop the involuntary "mmm," from escaping.

She remembered loving it when her mother would play with her hair as a young girl. Daniel had never done it and she was glad now that he hadn't. This was something that she didn't have to compare him to with John. A first for her; a man touching her hair in a way that sent shivers up and down her spine. It felt so good. She didn't want him to stop.

Ella laid there barely moving, hardly even breathing, so that she gave him no reason to stop making her feel so good. After a few minutes though, he did.

"I'm sorry, do you want me to stop?"

She lifted her head and met his eyes. "No...why do you ask?"

His fingers almost immediately started working through her hair again as he answered. "You just got very...still. I thought maybe...it bothered you."

Her eyes drifted closed and her head sunk back down onto his chest again. "Noo." The word was drawn out on a quiet breath. "No, don't stop. It doesn't bother me...it feels...," she took a deep breath and answered on her exhale, "amazing."

His chest, that had been moving in a slow rhythmic pace, stilled as did his fingers. Ella moved, about to ask why he'd stopped when those magic fingers of his once again started weaving themselves through her hair.

The tiny electric tingles shot from her head straight down her body and back up again. She released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding just as his chest started its movement again.

Ella thought she would be content to lay here, like this, the entire night. She would savor her time with John and revel in the feelings he brought to life within her. All night...

Ella woke to the sound of soft snoring. She doubted she would have even heard it if her ear hadn't been pressed to the origin of the noise. Silently she cursed herself for falling asleep. She'd wanted to spend all night feeling like she had when he'd started touching her.

Her left arm was losing feeling but there was no way in hell that she was going to move. She was pressed up against his warm torso. Thankfully she'd had the conscious thought to keep her lower half away from his leg...again. One of these times she was going to end up pressing against him and hurting him.

She was supposed to be staying up and keeping watch in case he needed something, not falling asleep on the job. It didn't really matter now because her charge was awake. She felt it the moment he woke. His breathing was still just as slow and even but the arm wrapped around her tightened ever so slightly. She felt her lips pull up and knew that he would have noticed the tiny movement against the side of his chest.

"Good Morning."

Ella nearly moaned at the soft, low timbre of his voice. She enjoyed the slightly raspy quality to it. It had such an effect on her that it was almost a physical caress to her senses.

Her own answering "good morning" was lower than normal and whether it was all from sleep or desire, she wasn't quite sure.

His fingers began sliding over her arm in a slow lazy pattern that sent shivers cascading over her entire body. She couldn't remember ever waking up this happy. Her fingers started a pattern of their own over his chest. Even though it was covered, the thin material of his t-shirt couldn't disguise the firm body underneath. Not for the first time, she craved to touch it, skin against skin, to feel the warmth of it radiating onto her own.

She took a deep, but quiet, breath and slowly slid her hand down his chest, over his taut belly and the indention of his bellybutton to the bottom of his shirt where it met with the waistband of his sweatpants. Her fingers paused, but only for a second, before they slowly curled under the hem of his shirt where they met their goal.

Simultaneously, his chest rose as his stomach contracted in an obvious reaction to her touch. Ella almost pulled her hand back in a gut reaction of fear to his movement but the quiet gasp she heard was like a sudden injection of pure confidence shot right into her heart. She flattened her palm against his stomach and moved it slowly upwards.

The slight smattering of hair rasped against her palm. She quite liked the sensation. The further up her hand went the sparser the hair. When she reached his belly button again she circled it with her index finger. John exhaled quickly through his nose. Ella thought he might be smiling but she didn't want to take a chance and look up at him fearing that it might break the spell and she would have to stop.

As she moved further up, her fingers brushed against something smooth and plasticy. It was the edge of the bandage covering the gunshot wound on his side. Again, she felt an overwhelming urge to pull away but fought against it. Instead, she shifted her hand and moved it closer to his middle.

Just above his belly button the hair had all but disappeared but as she reached his chest, she felt it yet again. All at once she couldn't stifle the need to not only feel it, but see it, taste it, press her own chest against it. Ella imagined herself tearing the shirt from him in strips and ravaging him senseless with her hands, lips, tongue, and teeth. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance. A large hand wrapped its fingers around hers through his shirt breaking her out of her lustful daze.

She realized that her fingers were digging into the skin of his chest. Immediately she relaxed her hand under his, took her lower lip in her teeth and looked up at him sheepishly.

His eyes were dark, dilated, hooded under thick black lashes. For a split second, Ella thought he was angry but then her eyes lowered and caught sight of his mouth, slightly open as his tongue slipped out and ran across his lower lip.

No, he was certainly not angry, she thought. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. Nerves took over and she started to pull her hand from under his but his soft whispered voice stopped it in its tracks.

"Ella...please don't stop."

Her eyes flickered up, met his, and then lowered as the blood rushed to her cheeks. It wasn't like last night when she would've been hidden by the dark. Now the sun, although filtered by thick, lush curtains, shone into the room casting a soft glow illuminating just how flushed she was.

Her mouth was dry and her heart was beating too fast. She wished, not for the first time, that she could control her reactions just a little. Ella nearly groaned in frustration but then she felt long fingers sliding slowly down her back until they reached her low back, right where her shirt ended. A soft gasp escaped her when they slid underneath and met the sensitive skin there. She laid her head down at the crook of his arm just at the top of his chest and allowed her body to relax against him. As John's fingers made slow, deliberate patterns across her back, she once again began exploring his chest with her own fingers.

Goosebumps rose on her skin and covered her entire body. Ella heard John chuckle, a deeply satisfying sound.

"What," she whispered quietly, "are you laughing at?"

"I'm not laughing...just enjoying watching your reaction."

Ella raised her head and met his eyes. "I don't like to be watched."

John's head cocked to the side, his confusion evident in the small wrinkles marring his otherwise smooth forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ella...but I can't help it. Someone as beautiful as you deserves to be noticed."

"Ohh," was her breathy reply.

"But if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll try to make it less obvious."

"I..." She was rendered speechless.

A tidal wave of thoughts seemed to crash down onto her at once threatening to drown her. She wanted to respond, to tell him that she was sorry, that he could notice her, look at her, all he wanted, but she wasn't sure how to tell him now. She'd hated how Daniel had watched her, like she was a piece of meat, always staring...leering at her. It made her feel disgusting, dirty. John didn't make her feel like that at all. He really did make her feel beautiful for the first time in her life.

Since she couldn't seem to tell him how she felt, she decided that she was going to show him...

**Sorry it was so short...I'll update as soon as RL allows.**


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